FA president deserves sacking for Saintfiet fiasco: Warner

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Disgraced former CONCACAF president, Jack Warner, says nothing short of the axing of FA chief, David John-Williams, can atone for the embarrassment of Tom Saintfiet’s resignation after just five weeks as national head coach.

“The person who should be fired is David John-Williams,” the usually outspoken Warner told the Newsday newspaper here.

“They should fire him now. The guy has poor judgement, he doesn’t understand football. He believes football is of course like Nescafe – quick fix. He doesn’t know that in football there is no quick fix.

“There is instant coffee, there is instant chocolate, there is not instant in football.”

Saintfiet lasted just four games in charge of Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s team, winning just one and losing three before calling it quits last Tuesday.

In a statement, the 43-year-old Belgian said he had received no support from the local FA and had his appointment “double-guessed” by John-Williams from the first day.

Saintfiet replaced the popular Stephen Hart who was sacked last November but the TTFA now find themselves hunting for yet another coach, two months before their next CONCACAF final round qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Warner, who served as a long-time special advisor to the TTFA, also questioned whether Saintfiet really resigned or if he was pushed.

“I feel like he and Williams came to some agreement whereby he would resign and save Williams the embarrassment,” said Warner, a former powerful vice-president of football’s world governing body, FIFA.

“But the fact is he was fired … and they are dressing it up as if it was a resignation.”

Saintfiet had been tasked with reviving T&T fortunes in World Cup qualifying, after they lost their opening games to Costa Rica and Honduras last November.