THOUGH utterly dejected, Reggae Boy Omar Cummings is prepared to put the disappointment of playing in the Barclays English Premier League firmly behind him after Aston Villa decided at the weekend against applying for a work permit for him.

The 28-year-old who spent three weeks on trial at the Midlands club was the target of manager Gerard Houllier, who had hoped to snap up the Jamaican on loan with a view to signing a permanent deal during the January transfer window.

However, having done his part on the training pitch to impress the former Liverpool French manager, Cummings, who scored 14 goals in leading his Colorado Rapids club to the MLS Cup last season, had his dream shattered when the club management decided against applying for a work permit because of Jamaica’s unfavourable placing on the FIFA Ranking over the last two years.

“What happened was that I couldn’t get an automatic work permit because of Jamaica’s ranking,” Cummings explained to the Observer yesterday.

“If they (club) had to do it (apply for permit), they would have to appeal and say that I would be in the starting team for the next game,” he added.

Cummings, who made his first senior international appearance for Jamaica in 2008 and has been capped 20 times with five goals, explained that the club had not applied for a work permit because it was awaiting the release of the latest FIFA Ranking on January 12 before taking a decision.

Previously, a club would apply directly to the Home Office for a work permit, with the well-known requirement being that the player had to have played 75 per cent of his nation’s competitive games within the last two years to qualify.

Additionally, the country from which the player comes must be in the top 70 of the FIFA Ranking on average over the same two-year period.

Failure to meet these requirements results in an automatic rejection of any application for an FA endorsement for a work permit certificate of sponsorship.

Now, the relevant governing body must endorse any work permit application by a club before it is submitted to the Home Office, cutting down on the number of requests made directly to Government, which are unlikely to succeed first time.

Cummings has been a regular in the senior Reggae Boyz setup for the past two years. He participated in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and last year’s Digicel Caribbean Cup competitions.

When the FIFA Ranking was released, Jamaica was 59th, one higher than its December 2010 placing, which was the lowest in the last two years.

Any player who is over 16 years old and is not from the European Economic Area (EEA), requires a work permit to play for a British club.

An Observer check reveals that Jamaica is ranked 73rd on average over the last two years, thus discouraging the Aston Villa club management from applying for the work permit.

If an application is rejected, a club can then appeal to the governing body. An appeals panel will ultimately decide whether or not the player is, in their view, an internationally established player and whether another professional within the UK could not perform a similar role.

“The trial was good, I got some positive feedback from the coach … He said he would very much like to have me, but right now with the work permit situation they can’t force it,” Cummings revealed yesterday.

He wrote a blog about his first two weeks with Aston Villa, and said he will remember the experience for a long time and enjoyed seeing what life is like in England’s top league.

Still, the former Duhaney Park and Rivoli United player is disappointed at not getting the chance to showcase his talent in that major European market.

“I’m a little disappointed,” he said candidly. “The opportunity was there and it is kind of like you get bitten by the bug, having been there, seeing the players, knowing the levels and you know you want to get there, so it was a motivation… the training was still a very good opportunity… I think anyone who would have got that opportunity to be that close and not getting to play would always be disappointed, but I have to accept it and move on.”

He noted that Houllier told him that he would “definitely keep on eye on me” and hopefully in the summer they would renew the bid.

Now Cummings will rest at home in Jamaica with his family for a while before heading off to preseason training by month end.

Getting ready for preseason in a few weeks’ time.

The Colorado Rapids kick-off their defence of the MLS Cup against expansion Portland Timbers on March 19 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

General secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Horace Reid, while empathising with Cummings, weighed in on the importance of the FIFA Ranking to Jamaica and its players.

“What has happened to Omar is most unfortunate,” he told the Observer yesterday.

“It, however, serves to re-emphasise the critical importance of rectifying our FIFA ranking, and we have started. Now the challenge is improving even further and maintaining consistency with our performances at the international level.

“This must be the focus of our players. This should be by far the bigger picture and interest of focus. Players are employed to clubs, that is where they make their living, not at the national team.

“Our players are good enough to play in the UK and this is a lucrative market for them as well as their clubs. There are no direct benefits to the JFF when our players are transferred. It’s the players and their clubs that 100 per cent benefit from the transfer fees and remuneration.”

Reid added: “However, Jamaica’s football benefits by having our players in a fully professional environment of high level playing on a regular basis and in the case of our local clubs, attract much needed revenues to re-invest in their respective programmes.

Reid added: “However, Jamaica’s football benefits by having our players in a fully professional environment of high level playing on a regular basis and in the case of our local clubs, attract much needed revenues to re-invest in their respective programmes.

“We must collectively continue the work to improve our ranking and improve the possibilities for our players and their respective clubs.

“This will require Jamaica playing more regularly and including non FIFA dates. It is not sufficient to improve our team and our ranking situation by only playing on the seven or eight FIFA dates per year. Jamaica need to and must play more games.

“During the period leading up to the France 1998 World Cup, we were averaging over 30 games per year. That was the period of our best movement in the FIFA ranking. Naturally, sacrifices and compromises are necessary to achieve these goals.

“The current Under-17 team will be testament to this formula. The country will be proud of their level of growth due to the quality and quantity exposure over the six-week camp (in Brazil). Games, games and mores games at the international level. That’s the formula,” argued Reid.