DIRECTV North East Stars are currently interviewing Brazilian coach Emerson Alcântara to fill the vacancy of head coach after the sacking of Shurland David last month.

“Emerson is a young coach with a growing reputation in Brazil. We are delighted to welcome him to Trinidad, and our aim over the next few weeks is to ascertain if his coaching philosophy matches the aims of the club,” stated Director of Operations Kevin Harrison in a press release.

Harrison said it is never an easy decision to hire a foreign coach.

“While we would love to bring on board a local coach, North East Stars are fully focused on competing regularly across the Caribbean in the CFU competition and hopefully in North and Central America in the CONCACAF Champions League. Therefore, we feel that a coach with experience of working overseas can bring an additional edge to the team.”

According to the release, North East Stars received applications from a number of foreign coaches and see it as positive proof that Trinidad and Tobago is still regarded highly in the football world.

“We've received applications from all over,” continued Harrison. “We were very interested in a coach who has just left his position as Head Coach of an African national team, but unfortunately, he is currently on a course in Malaysia. The quality of the applicants was quite surprising. It appears that Trinidad is a destination of interest to foreign coaches, which hopefully means our foreign based players are making a good impression and the Pro League is viewed favourably overseas.”

Emerson Alcantara arrived in Trinidad on Tuesday and met with team officials as discussions are expected to continue over the next few days before a decision is made.

“Emerson’s CV is very good, but we have to give him the opportunity to view the players in training, meet his prospective colleagues on the staff and take in some Pro League action.

The club is under no pressure to appoint a new Head Coach, as Brent Sancho and Kevin Jeffery are doing a great job as interim coaches. It’s important that we make the right decision and we will not rush to fill the post,” ended Harrison.

North East Stars next game is against San Juan Jabloteh on October 25th.