Dear Sir,

Please grant me the space to respond to Nick Jones' thoughtless and irrational tirade on the 'Big Debate', especially his unsurprising personal attack.

Jones' comment that I have "never finished a job I started in my life" is among other things, a weak attempt to discredit my commitment and contribution to football in Bermuda.

For the record, I have been appointed national team coach on two occasions, both of which have been on an interim basis and neither of which I will go into detail regarding the termination. I will first offer a different perspective on Jones' remark.

Other than the obvious (being fired or resigning), there is rarely an exact end to football coaching projects. There is a period with each project where circumstances indicate the time to move.

A recent example would be Juan de Ramos the Tottenham coach who left Seville in the midst of a new Spanish League and Champions League campaign. One could easily argue from the outside that his work was not finished at Seville.

So Jones could easily criticise Ramos as well as Jose Mourinho, who left Chelsea without winning the Champions League that they have never finished anything.

May I add that neither would care about such criticism. So the question is what is finished work for a football coach? Players, coaches and administrators personally know when to move on… or return. Coaches accept the working conditions of being let go or giving their own notice to leave. It's the only guarantee in coaching.

Jones' brainless comments continued when suggesting that the BFA appoint a coach and then demand that he is not allowed to deal with the media or worse conceal his appearance when in the technical area. Are you kidding?

Jones has no confidence in Bermudian players achieving anything as his comment that the Hogges will remain in the USL Division 2 unless they recruit some foreign players demonstrates.

Shaun Goater, Kyle Lightbourne and Paul Scope have stated that the Hogges programme is designed to assist in the development of the national team. This has some merit and I believe with the appropriate components the programme can be successful with Bermudian players.

Regardless of differing opinions, Friday night's result against Colorado Rapids is an indication of what is possible with Bermudian players.

The Jones mindset is that it is only good when he is involved as demonstrated by his statement that the 1994 cricket team was the fittest team to depart Bermuda. At least one well-known member of that team has already confided to me that Jones' methods had very little impact.

In fact, Jones was the trainer for the football World Cup team in 1992 and, in a previous interview, I have outlined my personal training schedule which was mainly a result of my personal commitment and the realisation that Jones' methods where having no impact on the performance I knew was required for international football.

Jones' selection as trainer for the football and cricket teams was down to his part ownership of a gym and the assumption that he was an expert in the field of exercise physiology.

Nick Jones, many people can contribute to the current sports debate. My national team appointments can hardly be seen as a compelling argument for the difficulties affecting football in Bermuda.

In this case, attempting to discredit my positive contribution to football based on not finishing anything is flawed. In fact, based on my international education, exposure and experience combined with the difficult sporting environment that is Bermuda resulting from your kind of mindset, the fact that I remain passionately involved after 18 years of coaching demonstrates, contrary to your comment, the highest level in physical and mental staying power.

Kenny Thompson