– Danns, Cox and Newton makes rallying call for Golden Jaguars support

“WE need your support!” was the rallying call made by UK-based trio– Neil Danns, Samuel Cox and Jake Newton– for the Golden Jaguars as Guyana prepare to host Barbados on Thursday in their opening game of the CONCACAF Nations League.

The CONCACAF Nations League is the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACF) new centralised men’s national team competition for national team football in the confederation.

The CONCACAF Nations League begins this month with a one-off qualifying phase, while the group phase, consisting of three-tiered leagues, will kick off in 2019, ending with the final to crown the Nations League champions.

The competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly-expanded Gold Cup which has moved from 12 to 16 teams.

With matches being played on the FIFA dates between September 2018 and March 2019, Guyana, after their clash with Barbados on September 6, will then travel to The Turks and Caicos Islands for a meeting between the two countries on October 13, followed by an encounter against French Guiana on November 20, before hosting Belize in March, 2019.

Danns, the former Leicester City and Crystal Palace midfield maestro, will be making a return to the ‘Golden Jaguars’, after being named in Head Coach Michael Johnson’s 23-man squad. Speaking exclusively with Chronicle Sport yesterday, said “It’s always good to be back and to play with the new gaffer (Head Coach). It’s exciting times (because) the gaffer has a lot of experience and it’s going to be amazing to work with him and see how the team progresses.”

Commenting on the composition of the squad, Danns pointed out that “there’s a good mixture of foreign and local based players, some young lads, and I think that it is important for when we move forward, we have a nice tight grouping and everyone working together.”

With stints at some of the top clubs in England’s Championship League One and Two, Danns is considered one of the highest calibre player on Johnson’s team and the now 25-year-old made it clear that he’s ready for the challenge ahead.

“Much will be expected of me; it has always been the same. I’ve been at clubs where it has been similar. I try not to think about that; I just love playing football and that could only affect what happens on the pitch and what happens with me and that’s something I always try to do. I’m here and I fully understand what is expected of me and I could only give my best and that’s it,” Danns opined.

Speaking on now playing under Johnson, the usually candid Danns showered the former Jamaican International with praises, adding “No disrespect to the other coaches that I would’ve worked with because they’ve been brilliant. Under coach Shabazz, under coach Dover, they were brilliant with me, and it’s just that the game’s progressing all the time and there’s new stuff coming to the game and the ‘gaffer’ now very educated with that.”

“He (Johnson) knows the progression and the way football is going, so I am really excited to see the opportunity given to the local players who maybe had not that base and I only see it benefitting the country in the future and the most important thing is that filtering down to the young group and everyone is getting the right foundation to build on if they want a future in the game,” said the Bury FC midfield player.

Meanwhile, for Cox, like Danns, working with a new head coach is something he’s looking forward to, telling Chronicle Sport, “It almost feels like the start of something new for the programme. Everyone knows the importance of these up-coming games and its importance and I don’t think that the nation has been in a better position to qualify for a major competition than now.

“Everyone is looking forward to the up-coming matches and we just trying get as much support as possible for Thursday night at Leonora.

“I think everyone should be behind us regardless; we just need as much support. The guys are working hard behind the scenes. We had a good camp in Brazil and with the new players coming in, and it’s a huge boost for the squad,”

After being away for a few years, Newton, who featured 23 times for Guyana, said “It’s nice to have another attempt, or another bite of the cherry to get Guyana to the Gold Cup for the first time. We have a good blend of internationally-based and locally based players, and the coaching staff; and looking at the games, we have a good chance but we really need a good start.”