Enduring one of their poorest starts in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL), Harbour View general manager Clyde Jureidini said the club will be looking internally at their youngsters to turn their fortunes around.
Harbour View sit 12th in the league’s standings with 14 points, two points above the relegation zone.
For the five-time JPL champions, it extends a poor run of form in the nation’s top flight which has seen them finish outside the top 10 for the last two seasons.
The club have also lost their last two games, and have won just three of their 14 games this season.
Jureidini said the issue has been the club’s inconsistent results in a league which has become increasing more competitive.
“We have been having our leanest spell of performances for 30 years since we came back to the Premier League in 1995,” Jureidini said.
“The last two years were the poorest ever and we have been fluctuating since the start of the season.
He continued, “Every game in the Premier League is tough and as you can see, it is very, very competitive across the league this year. If you lose one game, you’ll fall couple places but if you win a game, you jump more than a few spaces so we have to be more consistent.”
With the transfer window open, the Stars of the East prefer to look inwards for a solution to their inconsistent run of performances.
Jureidini said the club’s priority is to promote key players from the youth teams with the goal of adding more energy to their squad.
He pointed particularly to their under-17 team, which has been one of the best age-group squads on the island for the past few years.
Jureidini said with the schoolboy football competitions now over, they will look to include these players into the first team.
“We’re looking internally first, developing our youth teams who have been extremely good locally and internationally, in particular our U17s,” the general manager explained.
“We allowed them to play for their schools and now that it is over, we’re shifting gears and will see if they can come and do the same thing at a higher level, given time and the space for development.”
The club have also brought in key youth players, including the Excelsior High pair of Terrence Williams and Kimarly Scott.
Jureidini said the goal is to create a push further up the JPL standings, while also creating a platform for young players to develop their skills as they seek better career opportunities overseas.
“We want to be hitting high performances, keeping that consistent and then grow from there,” he explained.
“We need to get back to our high level of performance, locally, regional and internationally. We are pushing the youngsters into getting into international clubs, particularly in Europe because they have been doing so well but that will take time as with everything else.”
