Coach Byjeon Thomas leaves Dunbeholden
Published:Friday | January 17, 2025 | 12:08 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
General manager of Jamaica Premier League (JPL) club Dunbeholden, Roger Simmonds, has confirmed that former coach Harold Thomas has taken over the reins as head coach of the team after Byjeon Thomas tendered his resignation earlier this week.
Simmonds believes the last two results, a 4-0 defeat by Mount Pleasant and a 2-0 loss against Cavalier, were not good enough, and the management had ‘issues’ with ‘how things were going’.
“Right now, Harold Thomas is doing the coaching duties and we are looking at an assistant to help the process. That’s where it is at this point in time. He (Byjeon Thomas) tendered his resignation because the results weren’t favourable and the management team had issues with how things were going. Therefore we expressed that to him, at least two weeks ago, and I figured based on the last two results and the manner in which they happened that would’ve caused him to think that we would be looking to make a change,” Simmonds said.
Simmonds revealed that he had a conversation with Byjeon Thomas prior to the departure and it was it was clear a change had to be made.
“I spoke with him on Monday, prior to his resignation, and I asked him a few questions on how he felt about the performance of the team and whether or not he still had the dressing room behind him. Based on the answers to those questions, I figured he recognised how things were turning out,” the Dunbeholden manager said.
Byjeon Thomas said, however, that recent results were not the main reason for his resignation.
“It wasn’t about the results, as I’m not a coward. The team has issues that should’ve been sorted out and they were not sorted out. So, as a result, we decided to move on. I won’t disclose those issues because, if I do, it will be me throwing them under the bus. I’m disappointed. With the right things in place, I felt we could’ve done well, but that’s football and life,” Byjeon Thomas stated.
Dunbeholden are currently in 12th place in the JPL on 15 points, two above 13th-place Harbour View on 13 and four above cellar dwellers Humble Lion with 11. According to Simmonds, while there were some issues about ‘playing time’ by some of the players, he still believes the squad is ‘motivated’ to continue to represent the club.
“I think majority of the players are still motivated to represent the club. However, I know some complained about not getting game time while at the same time we were trying to enforce the discipline that is required to be part of the match squad each week,” Simmonds added.
Dunbeholden are winless in their last six games and have failed to score in four of those games. They will welcome back the experienced Harold Thomas with open arms, as he guided them to the 2022 JPL final.