The decision by the executive committee of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF), to select and appoint Canadian Michael Findlay, as the Head Coach of the country’s flagship team, the senior men’s outfit is welcomed.
Findlay thus replaced Vincentian Ezra Hendrickson, who served in the post from August 2024 to February/ March, 2026, doing so with much aplomb, complemented by some more than favourable results.
The new head coach, Findlay is a highly qualified coach, who possesses a UEFA Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification awarded in the European Football system.
Not short on national team experience, Findlay was also head coach of the senior Canada men’s outfit, also Bermuda and Grenada and was Grenada’s Under-23 coach.
Notwithstanding, Findlay served as Grenada’s Under-20 coach; Canada’s Assistant Coach, Caretaker coach, as well as Canada’s Under-23 Assistant Coach.
Accordingly, Findlay has twenty- four months to bring to bear the accumulative qualification and experience to deposit and leave an indelible mark on St Vincent and the Grenadines’ footballing landscape.
As announced by the secretariat of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, Findlay, in addition to his substantive duties with the senior male team, is his assistance with the Under-20 and Under-23 stocks.
The latter responsibilities, whilst lower down in the pecking order, should be the most important, granted the need for greater attention to the lower tiers of development.
What though is critical for Findlay’s tenure is the imparting of his wide knowledge to the coaches.
This has been an area of neglect in the past. Not enough information sharing was done, often leaving the knowledge base of our local coaches at the same stage, prior to the engagement of the Senior Head Coach.
Hopefully, history is not repeated and we see our home-grown coaches being afforded opportunities to grow so they can contribute to the national Football product.
One expects Findlay will be marked hard by Football enthusiasts who are still buoyed by the two most memorable recent results attained under Hendrickson, namely the defeat of El Salvador, and the draw with the star-laden Jamaica here at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.
These had lifted the country’s Football profile and that of Hendrickson, therefore, expectations are high.
However, there are fundamental differences, as Vincentian- born Hendrickson knew the ecosystem of our Football. He knew the ins and outs, the culture and understood the challenges of a small country with limited financial resources and infrastructure.
His adaptability to the country’s circumstances helped him along the way, having to make the necessary adjustments given the many constraints.
Fast forward to Findlay, he too has to do likewise and employ his understanding to the country’s limitations.
In saying that, the executive committee of the SVGFF should not use these as excuses not to provide Mr. Findlay with the resources to dispense of his duties in the most efficacious manner.
He should be given the tools (as much as possible, reasonable and financially feasible) to ensure that the senior men’s team gets the best preparations, and turn out the most formidable combination.
Getting positive results is not cheap, neither is it gifted.
Those in charge of providing such cannot want plenty for twenty, as success is not obtained by peppercorn expenditure.
Findlay’s immediate show of his worth is to prepare the senior team for the Concacaf Nations League, with a view to securing a spot to the 2027 Gold Cup, which also assures a place in League A of the next Nations League.
It is an anxious wait to see Findlay’s philosophy, approach, disposition and management of the human capital at his disposal.
The introduction has been made; it is now down to the hard work to put the best team for Vincy Heat on the pitch.
