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Mount Pleasant’s ‘strategic move’ - Club wants more academy players to transition to the senior team
June 04, 2024
Mount Pleasant sporting director Paul Christie says the appointment of Harold Thomas to replace Theodore Whitmore is a strategic move aimed at helping more academy players transition to the senior team.
The St Ann-based club chose not to renew Whitmore's contract after two years and Christie said their Jamaica Premier League final loss to Cavalier on penalties, played no part in their decision.
"They are two separate issues. It was a two-year project and all parties were aware.
"However, at this juncture the club has decided to go in a different direction, which will align both the academy and the first team. So it is not a case of one affecting the other," he pointed.
He said Thomas, who guided Dunbeholden to the JPL final in the 2021-22 season, has done a great job with the academy since taking charge over a year ago, and the club hierarchy strongly believes he is the perfect man to blend the academy players with their expensive purchases in the senior team.
"He (Thomas) is in charge of the academy and he will be taking charge of the senior team, and that is where the organisation is going now.
"The club would have looked at what Mr Thomas did in his one-year tenure at the school. He knows the kids and would have done an excellent job with them.
"So he is positioned in a way to actually make the transition at this time, and that is a reason for having him leading the charge to help make that transition.
"And for this chapter of the development of the organisation, the owner would like to see more home-grown academy players transitioning into the senior team
"The organisation would love to see a mixture of the academic products and the experienced players. But we have no doubt that we will continue to see the growth and progress of this club," Christie said.
Many observers have been pointing to the club's JPL final defeat as the reason for not sticking with Whitmore but Christie insists that is not the case.
"You always want to win but losing is a part of the game. I know that people will say things but we all know it was a two-year project. That is why I say that one did not affect the other.
"People will ask what would have transpired if we won. But even if Mount Pleasant had won the title the decision was already taken.
"We all knew about the decision before. So the decision to move in a new direction has nothing to do with the result in the Premier League. It was long taken by the organisation's leadership," he added.
