ACCORDING to English writer Aldous Huxley, “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.”

The Reggae Boyz should take heed and ensure that recent events amount to something in the long run. Otherwise, the early exit from the CFU Championships in Antigua will be absolutely hard to digest.

That this major snag holds serious implications for the nation’s World Cup aspirations is a given, since the team has consequently been deprived of a spot at the prestigious CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States from July 7-28 next year.

Placed in a more serious context, while host country USA, Mexico and the other three Central American countries in the final six phase of the WCQ will be enjoying important top-class competition among themselves this summer — free of cost and for a vital three weeks or so — the Boyz will have to seek competition elsewhere, in the very midst of the expectedly fierce Hexagonal campaign.

In fact, at the onset of the Gold Cup, Jamaica would have already played six of their 10 scheduled WCQ matches and with four matches to come, would hopefully be in a combative position to make that final thrust towards Brazil.

The benefits of competing at this tournament cannot, therefore, be overemphasised. Invaluable match practice apart, it would likely bolster team selection, chemistry and strategy, and function as an important gauge against the same opponents the Boyz would have been battling for the three automatic berths to FIFA’s showpiece event.

Further, even though our non-qualification may conveniently render the Gold Cup sour grapes at this juncture, contesting the premier football tournament in the region is a status symbol and places teams in the upper echelon of the sport.

As it stands, the confidence of the Reggae Boyz could be adversely affected by the embarrassment in the Eastern Caribbean, which occurred mere weeks before their first WCQ final round game against no less an opponent than Mexico in the intimidating Azteca Stadium.

An important spin-off from that fateful event is the confirmation of the Achilles Heel of playing on the road, with Antigua seemingly a jinxed destination, even as one recalls the blunder in the previous round of the WCQ,

One could, therefore, be forgiven for instinctively berating the entire Jamaican setup for a humiliating display against presumably inferior opponents in French Guiana, Martinique and Cuba where the Boyz failed to score more than one goal after three matches and emerged with the dubious record of two defeats and a draw.

Even more disconcerting is the fact that of the eight teams on show, Jamaica was the only one that failed to win a game. As the lone participating Caribbean nation in the final phase of WC qualifying, the Boyz would have been expected to reach the final four of this modest tourney, at the very least; thus the massive let-down.

In light of this and as we approach the business end of the WCQ, fans and indeed, all stakeholders, are demanding urgent answers from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) on critical matters of team composition, player mentality and coaching ability. If its claims of transparency, accountability and credibility are to be vindicated, the local governing body must render a swift response.

Further, as disappointing as recent events have been, they come at an opportune time for local boss Captain Horace Burrell and the entire senior setup. For, while missing out on the Gold Cup is a lost opportunity, it facilitates swift interrogation of existing systems that would otherwise be deferred.

Atop the list is the matter of goal-scoring, which has been the bane of the outfit and is likely to determine the outcome of its forthcoming World Cup venture. Since the imperious talent of Marlon King is no longer available, this crisis must be expeditiously tackled against the background of the ineffectiveness of those who have already tried and failed.

Lest we live an illusion, the current strikers, as well as those who were involved in the last WC qualifying series, fall short of the required standard for the next phase. This leaves the new English-based recruits, including Jobi McAnuff and Jermaine Beckford, as the only viable options.

Again, a knee-jerk reaction is calling for the head of coach Theodore Whitmore. Of course, the former midfielder maestro has won very few friends with his surly, defensive and elusive demeanour. But since this is not a popularity contest, it’s his right to be self-indulgent, provided he delivers when called upon.

To be fair, Whitmore presided over arguably the most attractive and organised senior outfit seen in recent years — at the 2011 Gold Cup tournament — and is, therefore, capable of producing the results. Somewhere along the line, however, things appear to have gone horribly wrong.

For reasons unknown, Whitmore could have lost his motivation and at this stage, couldn’t care less. As the most important element in any JFF post-mortem, however, a reasonable assumption is that ‘Tappa’ merely allowed a number of sub-standard players to eliminate themselves.