Two top local coaches say McClaren will have positive impact

Local coaches Donovan Duckie and Calvert Fitzgerald believe that the appointment of Steve McClaren as the new Reggae Boyz coach will have a positive impact on the team’s World Cup qualification campaign, but former Arnett Gardens assistant coach Eric Rademakers insists that administratively is where the Jamaica Football Federation is letting the team down.

Duckie and Fitzgerald both believe that McClaren’s English league experience will help him get the best out of a team that is dominated by British-born players.

They are also of the view it is also part of a plan to get Leon Bailey back in the fold and attract other top England-born players.

“Might as well they go for McLaren because it’s an English-based team we have,” Duckie commented. “And Leon Bailey will come back because it is a new page, and McLaren will say he has nothing against the player.”

Duckie said that with the quality players available, the team only needs a good manager who gets no interference from above while pointing to the suspension of Bailey by the federation for the Copa America.

“If the (former) coach’s (Heimir Hallgrimsson) intention was to get back and play Bailey, the moment the JFF pulled the plug and said he is suspended from all national duties, the coach is not in control any more. But accomplished coaches will not allow federations to dictate to them,” Duckie said.

Nevertheless, he believes that the former Manchester United assistant coach will have a positive impact overall.

“He will do good for us. He is a veteran that is well respected. He understands the English culture, so he will definitely do good. But they need somebody that will manage the team and tactically, get it better.

“The cultural differences will not be a problem. He will get more out of the team knowing that these players are blooded in an English culture,” Duckie said.

According to Fitzgerald, a former Waterhouse and Tivoli Gardens coach, McClaren’s appointment had a lot to do with his profile and ability to attract quality players from England.

He pointed out that a lot of the big names Jamaica have courted in the past have failed, and the JFF would be of the view that the former England manager can convince better-quality players with Jamaican roots to join the Reggae Boyz.

He also thinks McLaren’s impact on the field will be massive. Like Duckie, he believes the players will have a coach they can relate to.

“When I compare the Jamaican players to the Americans, the Canadians, and the Mexicans, the top three teams in Concacaf, we have a squad as good as those countries. Also the English game is not a back-to-front long ball any more. Even in the championship, they are putting the ball down and playing it around,” Fitzgerald said.

However, Rademakers is of the view that the JFF is sweeping the real issues under the rug and that even if the team qualifies for the next World Cup, he does not think they will have sustainable success.

“The JFF has been below par for the things we need to improve on to actually have sustainable success,”he said.

He pointed out that the biggest downfall is not the quality of the coach, but the inefficiency of the administration and that it would have been better to use some of the resources being used on the coach to upgrade their administrative capabilities.

“I would love to see instead of having a big name and a big budget for the head coach, we refocus some of the resources on things we really need to improve, which is get persons on the staff that, maybe, get paid a lot more than what they usually pay the administrative staff. But they are making sure that everything runs smooth and proper,” he commented.

“We have big players to deal with, and we need someone who can communicate and make sure they feel appreciated and comfortable.”

The Netherlands-born coach has no issue with McClaren but he believes that any good coach can lead the Reggae Boyz to World Cup qualification with the quality players they have.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com