MOUNT Pleasant Football Academy’s defence of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup depends entirely on qualifying through the ongoing Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Shield.
Despite what’s at stake, Sporting Director Paul Christie says the club isn’t being consumed by pressure and is confident they can get the job done.

Mount Pleasant failed to earn an automatic spot for this year’s Caribbean Cup, which they won last December, after losing to Portmore United in last season’s Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) semi-finals.

Theodore Whitmore’s side did, however, keep their hopes of playing in the regional competition alive, after defeating Montego Bay United in the JPL third-place play-off to secure a spot in the CFU Club Shield, where the finalists will qualify for next month’s Caribbean Cup.

The St Ann-based club, currently in the quarter-finals in Trinidad, must win its next two matches or risk becoming the second-consecutive defending Caribbean Cup champion to fail to defend its title. Suriname’s SV Robinhood, the 2023 champions, also missed out on the 2024 edition after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Club Shield.

Christie, though, says the do-or-die situation gives Mount Pleasant a chance to show their mettle.

“I’ve been in football for almost 30 years. I’ve never had a pressure moment in my life. I don’t do pressure, we live for these moments. When people say that it can’t be done, we try to show them that there’s always a way and our job is to find it,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

CHRISTIE…if you are not able to operate in the big moments then you are in the wrong sport

“For the great ones — the bigger the moment the brighter they shine; so if you are not able to operate in the big moments then you are in the wrong sport. I see it as an opportunity to get a trophy that has not been in the cabinet of Mount Pleasant. Let us not enter with an entitled posture. Let’s know that our job is to try and get the trophy, do the best that we can and live with the result.”

Mount Pleasant, who arrived in Trinidad last Wednesday, earned a bye to the round of 16 of the Club Shield due to their regional rankings. However, their match on Sunday turned out to be a walkover as Antigua and Barbuda’s All Saints United withdrew from the competition.

They will now face Barbados’ Weymouth Wales on Tuesday at the Larry Gomes Stadium. Although the team has not had any competitive match practice, Christie says the preparation under Whitmore and his coaching staff has given him every reason to believe Mount Pleasant can go all the way.

“We are here to do a job, to get in, get the job done and get out and that’s all we’re focusing on. We’re trying to keep the boys focused, trying to maintain the professional standard that Mount Pleasant has grown to be accustomed to,” he said.

“The technical staff is doing a very good job keeping the players focused, the timeliness of the sessions, the meals and the camaraderie — there are aligned with what we we have been expecting so we have not seen and we still have not anticipated any issues; so all in all the spirit is good in the camp. Mr Whitmore and his technical team, they have done this assignment before and so they know what to expect and we are at a good place now and all they’re focusing on is to just get the job done and get back to Jamaica.”

If Mount Pleasant qualifies for next Sunday’s final, they will join fellow Jamaican clubs Portmore United and Cavalier FC in the group stage of the Caribbean Cup.