Honduras will end its long and at times embarrassing search for a permanent manager this week, appointing the World Cup battle-hardened Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez. He’s another name in a list of coaches Canada manager Stephen Hart must outfox to get to the 2014 World Cup.
On paper at least, is Canada really that far behind the handful of other countries vying for the last Brazil 2014 spot? The difference lies in the intangibles - the support a team receives from its own fans in its own stadiums, how well the domestic league compliments the national program, and of course, the ability of the guy in the technical area.
So how does Stephen Hart stack up against the other coaches vying for the last Concacaf World Cup berth?
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Honduras
Luis Fernando Suárez’s biggest achievement on the international stage was guiding Ecuador to the final-16 of the 2006 World Cup in Germany (although getting them out of South American qualifying in the first place is pretty impressive too), where they eventually lost to England and a David Beckham free kick. He also won a league title in Colombia in 1999.
Costa Rica
Argentine Ricardo La Volpe has loads of coaching experience with some of - heck with all of, really - the biggest clubs in Mexico. He won titles in 1991 with Atlante and in 2002 with Toluca. Internationally, he won the Gold Cup with Mexico in 2003 and took that country to the last-16 of the 2006 World Cup where they lost to a spectacular extra time volley from Argentina's Maxi Rodríguez. La Volpe enjoys a cigarette on the touchline in the dwindling list of countries where he’s still allowed to have one, and once told journalists that he would rather give up football than smoking.
El Salvador
No permanent manager, but as recently as January they were eyeing names like ex-Almería manager, Juan Manuel Lillo. Apparently the Spaniard couldn’t agree on terms with the Salvadorians, but his profile gives a hint to the ambitions of their FA.
Guatemala
Uruguayan Ever Hugo Almeida has won club titles in Paraguay, Guatemala and Ecuador. He’s led the Guatemalans to five wins and six losses since taking over last May.
Jamaica
More on this in a second, but here we have a combination of football and food company sponsorship with which Stephen Hart could relate. Jamaica top-man Theodore Whitmore won the Captain's Bakery Western Confederation Super League (the Jamaican second division) in 2009. He’s also won the Caribbean Cup four times and the top Jamaican domestic tournament once.
Trinidad & Tobago
Head coaching job is vacant.
Over the next two years, Hart will battle managers with experience in World Cup elimination rounds, or at minimum, a club title or two in their own country. His experience? Stints as coach of the U17 and U20 national teams (as well as the senior team in the 2007 Gold Cup) and managing an amateur side in his hometown called the Halifax King of Donair.
It's difficult to criticize Hart, because for starters, he's charismatic and likable, but he also offers the sense that he gets the complex and delicate gig that is coaching Canada. For those reasons alone many will overlook his lack of experience. Plus, the players appear to like him. At the very least there hasn’t been the same public grumbling that brought the downfall of Dale Mitchell’s already crumbling regime. But up until now, the stakes Hart has been playing for have been much lower.
In a one-off situation, Suarez or La Volpe's World Cup experience may not be a huge factor. But over the course of a 15-20 game World Cup qualifying cycle there's a good chance it will.
Hart is actually in an enviable position. If Canada qualify for the World Cup, a lot of the credit will go to him, and what he was able to coax out of this group of players. And unless Canada suffer an epic, Mitchell-style, flameout, I fully expect Canada supporters will feel Hart did an admirable job with the resources available.
It’s a chicken-and-egg situation. Canada won’t attract an experienced manager until it improves on the pitch. (And to be fair, until it gets its act together off it too.) But you know what would go a great way toward improving on the pitch? An experienced manager.
The debate about whether the CSA truly needs to scrape together money it barely has for a big-name, experienced national team coach is an old one. And the Hart experiment will provide yet more evidence for both sides. But should Canada fail in qualifying yet again, a lot of people will holler for the CSA to hire a guy with a World Cup qualifying cycle or two under his belt.