HE was once regarded as Guyana’s most feared striker during his prime as a player. Now Collie ‘The Hitman’ Hercules, recently appointed as head coach of the Guyana senior team, will have a chance to continue that fear, but from the sidelines, as he prepares to lead Guyana against Barbados on Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The men from the ‘Land of the Flying Fish’ will invade Guyana wanting to make grounds as both countries seek to rebuild their national programmes. Speaking with Chronicle Sport yesterday at the Raddison Suites where the team is encamped, Hercules made it known that he’s full of optimism that his side will come out victorious against the visitors.
According to Hercules, who is making his debut as senior coach, the Guyana team will have a very youthful composition since the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will be looking to kick-start its preparations for the Olympic qualifiers that are scheduled to begin shortly.
He said with the games (Olympics) just under a year away in London, the preparations of the team begin now and facing Barbados will give his coaching staff a fair assessment of how far they are and what needs to be done to take Guyana to England.
Meanwhile, Hercules opined that in World Football, the word ‘friendly’ is now reduced to a figment of one’s imagination, given the fact that each country play to their best since a lot is taken into consideration including finances and rankings.
“Every game is important, I mean, people say it’s a friendly, but to me those days are gone because you always have to be cognisant of your ratings and so be very mindful of plenty things. We are thankful for the game but we’re going to take the opportunity to expose some young players as well, so we can broaden the pool in terms of our selection,” said Hercules.
While the team will be composed of mostly players from the Under-23 unit, the GFF is at present trying to have some of their senior overseas players to be part of the mix; including Walter Moore and JP Rodrigues who are both playing in the USA First Division league, along with Chris Nurse.
Those players are scheduled to arrive in Guyana by tomorrow, if they are coming, given the fact that their respective clubs have engagements over the weekend.
Asked how responsive the young players in training are, Hercules said that they are “enthusiastic, they are looking forward for the challenge and looking forward to working with myself and working with them and we want to do well on Sunday”
After having an illustrious career as a player, Hercules, wanting to see Guyana’s football develop, opted to become coach and went ahead and became qualified in that department.
He told this newspapers that leading the senior side for the first time “is a great opportunity. I appreciate it and the feeling comes naturally for me.
“Obviously I’ve been there under coach (Wayne) Dover and I’ve gained valuable experience under him and that makes it a bit easier for me because I’ve had experience working with a senior team before”.
Hercules would’ve played against Barbados on numerous occasions during his tenure as a National player at all levels and said that “looking back in the past, I know that they are a very strong team, very physical, good technically as well, but we are going to be very ready and prepared”.
The latest released world ranking from the world governing body FIFA in April shows Guyana placed 110 as compared to Barbados’ 132.
The game will be played under floodlights, with a 19:00hrs kick-start.