Left: Calabar's coach David Hunt   Right: Harbour View coach Lenworth Hyde - file

In the December 14 function to officially name Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic as the country's new technical director, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Crenston Boxhill, was full of praise for two former national coaches, Carl Brown and Wendell Downswell.

Downswell and Brown have been around for a long, long time and have given yeoman service to Jamaica's football. Both served extensively under former technical director Rene Simoes and there is no doubt that they have vast knowledge of the local football scene.

I have a healthy respect for both men who I have known for a very long time, but in the run up to South Africa 2010 I would like to see some new faces on the Jamaica bench.

There are a number of coaches who have had some success locally and it would be nice to give them a chance at advancing beyond the club level and into senior international football. Coaches like Harbour View's Lenworth Hyde, David Hunt of Calabar and Meadhaven, Barrington Gaynor of Waterhouse and Boysie Nicholson of Frome Technical have had some success at the schoolboy and club levels and they should be given a chance to step up to the senior level. Hunt, for example, has been operating at the national junior level for many years, but is a highly qualified coach who should do well if given the opportunity to rub shoulders with a man as experienced as Milutinovic.

Impossible to develop

My attention was also drawn recently to president Boxhill's call for a Jamaican football philosophy or style of play. I think such a philosophy will be hard or even impossible to develop. The Reggae Boyz are drawn from diverse leagues in Europe and North America. Some of these players, like those born in England have never played football locally and would find it difficult to fit into a 'Jamaican system.'

Rather than focus on a Jamaican style I think our football bosses should put their energies into helping to lift the level of professionalism among local players. In the 1998 campaign Jamaica only turned the corner after players like Deon Burton, Paul Hall, Robbie Earle and Fitzroy Simpson came into the squad. These players brought the discipline which was instilled in them at the professional level in England. Jamaica now has a number of players operating at the professional level in England and one or two other countries in Europe and it is hoped that when these players return home for matches some of this professionalism will rub off on local based members of the squad.

While we are on the topic of overseas based players I think there is a need for the technical director to spell out clearly what his philosophy will be in the area of recruiting players for the Reggae Boyz squad. Do we now have scouts abroad looking out for players with Jamaican connections? Will we be trying to have a squad made up mostly of local players and Jamaica-born players who have left here to seek their fortunes abroad like Ricardo Gardner, Claude Davis, Ricardo Fuller and Luton Shelton or will we be looking to pick up many players born in England or the United States of America with linkages to Jamaica?

It's my view that such a philosophy should be set out clearly at the very outset by the technical director. Players, especially those based locally, would know where they stand from very early.