All eyes on Mount Pleasant… can they deliver?
TUCKER, St James — Few teams have had their entry to the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) as closely anticipated as Mount Pleasant Football Academy’s.
They will get their baptism when they travel to face defending champions Portland United.
The St Ann-based club won the Jamaica Football Federation Confederation play-offs and were promoted, along with Dunbeholden FC of St Catherine.
But the latter’s promotion pales in comparison to the press Mount Pleasant sparked, no doubt by the massive investment by the club’s ownership, headed by Englishman Peter Gould.
Plans for a lavish complex that will include several playing fields and an academy and hefty salaries attracted a lot of top local players to the club. Hopes are high for the St Ann club before the first ball is kicked as they will be the first since Benfica FC in the 2010-11 season.
Donovan Duckie, the man who will lead the charge when the first whistle is blown tomorrow for Mount Pleasant, says his team will be taking things step by step. He says the first objective is to qualify for the top six at the end of the 33 games in three rounds of matches.
Duckie joins Paul “Tegat’ Davis”, who was at the club for the previous two seasons, completing a formidable technical team.
“It is important for us to be competitive, that’s the first thing,” Duckie told the Jamaica Observer recently.
“When we looked at the players we wanted to bring in. we want to be competitive, and the first thing is to get to the six,” he said.
The much-travelled Duckie, who has led a number of clubs in the Premier League with varying results, said: “We understand that the RSPL format is a tricky one and some teams struggle to get to the six, we want to be there.”
Last season, Duckie took over a badly struggling Waterhouse FC who were in danger of relegation, guiding them first to safety then to the final against Portmore, which they lost.
One of his first jobs at Mount Pleasant, Duckie shared, was trimming the massive squad. Then he proceeded to bring in experienced players who would complement those he decided to stick with.
“We ended the Super League with a huge roster, but we scaled down to 17 and added another 17 players… for those who matriculated from last season we are looking at how best they could integrate with the new ones and vice versa… We are pretty comfortable with who we have,” Duckie said.
Among the players who have signed with Mount Pleasant are former Montego Bay United defender Ladale Richie, who captained the national team in a recent two-match swing through the Eastern Caribbean.
Sue-lae McCalla from Portmore United; Evan Taylor, Danile Green and Kareen Manning from Harbour View; Romario Campbell of Humble Lion, as well as Kemar Beckford, Khadeen Davis and Cardel Benbow from Waterhouse are other notable new signees.
Asked whether he has all the players he needs for Mount Pleasant’s maiden voyage into the RSPL, Duckie said “yes and no”.
“Yes, we got all we asked for; but there are others who we would have wanted, but as a staff we looked at the balance we had, we felt we were comfortable,” he said.
“It is unprecedented to ask for 17 players and you get all of them… We are more than comfortable with what we have here to start the season. It’s never ideal as a coach, but we are a work in progress and we are very optimistic.”
— Paul Reid