Clovis impressed with level of play of JPL’s top teams
Published:Saturday | March 11, 2023 | 1:06 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Chapelton Maroons coach Clovis de Oliveira is impressed with the level of play being shown by the top teams in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) and says his team must step up if they want to avoid relegation.
“I am very surprised with the level of the league,” de Oliveira told The Gleaner. “I watched the games (of) those teams at the top, and Cavalier when we played against them showed that they have a very good team.”
De Oliveira also identified Mount Pleasant and Arnett Gardens as two other teams who are playing quality at a level superior to his team.
“So we must prepare ourselves much better and best as possible. We have to work harder if we want to beat these teams and come out of this situation.”
He pointed that since arriving at the club there has been some major obstacles, such as losing six points for their no- show against Mount Pleasant in January, as well as not being able to go into the transfer market.
Also some of the team’s most reliable players are on loan and cannot turn out against their parent clubs.
All this he said has made his job of keeping the club in the league a lot tougher.
“We have some problems. We lost six points the week that I came.
“We have a lot of players on loan from other clubs and most of those players cannot play against their clubs, so I have to keep changing and moving the players.
“But I will keep going. These are the players we have and we will continue to work hard to get the best out of these young boys,” he stated.
SECOND HOME
Meanwhile, the 68-year-old Brazilian, who has coached Trinidad and Tobago and Tanzania in the past, calls Jamaica his second home.
He admires the support he has received from the Chapelton president and executives and remains open to spending another season in the country.
“I am pleased and proud to be here again. Chapelton Maroons gave me this chance. But if you ask me of the future, of course I would like to remain in Jamaica.
“I would like to keep coaching in Jamaica for the next season. This is my country and my second home,” he said.
He noted that the respect people has shown him all over the country and the support he has received from president Michael Scott and the club have been nothing short of overwhelming.
However, if things do not work out with the Clarendon club, he revealed that he would be open to taking on another local job.
“They (Chapelton) give to the players what we ask of them. They are giving them vitamin tablets and supplements. Now he (Scott) is building a sand field that we can practised there for power training.
“We can set up a football court like in Brazil. They are just finishing one that I asked for. So he is doing the best he can to support my work and Gabriel (Barros) my assistant.
“But I am a professor and sometimes I may receive a phone call and I don’t know. But my heart is open and I would love to remain in Jamaica because people love me and they respect me a lot. I can feel this in the streets, at my home, anywhere I go in Jamaica,” de Oliveira said.