🌴 Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago run into age-old managerial debate
The two Caribbean powers make managerial changes. Did they make the right decisions?
“Rent, don’t buy,” is the old joke among international managers. After all, in many countries you could be stuck with 29 years left on a 30-year mortgage, owning a place in a nation where not only do you no longer live and work but where you, perhaps, are no longer even welcomed.
The real estate market isn’t as intense for domestic-based managers, but especially in the Americas there’s often a feeling (sometimes backed by results) that a foreign manager can elevate the national team beyond what a countryman is able to do.
That is the bet Jamaica made, Wednesday hiring Englishman Steve McClaren as its new men’s national team coach. The same day Trinidad and Tobago opted to move on from Angus Eve despite the former Soca Warrior being signed to a contract through 2025.
Trinidad and Tobago’s federation officials, elected in the spring, could follow Jamaica’s lead and look abroad for a new manager. Unlike Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago isn’t heavily favored to book a place in the 2026 World Cup in North America, but there are great pieces to work around that could intrigue a coach from abroad.
That said, two legends immediately spring to mind: Dwight Yorke, who most recently led Macarthur in the A-League and Stern John, who moved from Anguilla to Saint Lucia, achieving good results with both Concacaf nations. Russell Latapy also is in the same category, having led Barbados from 2019-2022 after working as a Trinidad and Tobago assistant. He was on Yorke’s Macarthur staff.
But both countries frequently fall into debates about if local know-how or foreign experience is best for the national team.
A look back on Eve’s tactics, sometimes controversial even in victory:
Jamaica dabbled with Brazilian coaches in the 1990s, with René Simões leading them to the 1998 World Cup - then moving to manage Trinidad and Tobago, though it was the Dutch manager Leo Beenhakker who secured the two-island nation’s only World Cup appearance in 2006.
Since saying goodbye to Simões, Jamaica largely has yo-yoed between a Jamaican boss, twice Tappa Whitmore and a coach from abroad. The search to replace Heimir Hallgrímsson, an Iceland native who left Jamaica to take over the Republic of Ireland, seems to have focused not just on foreign candidates but specifically on Englishmen named Steve with McClaren the surprise hire after the British press had indicated Steve Bruce was close to earning the role.
For Jamaica, it may be a strategic move. Hallgrímsson did well not only convincing England-based players to represent Jamaica but also to convince them to keep coming back to suit up - with the notable exception of Aston Villa star Leon Bailey skipping the Copa América after the coach suspended him for March’s Nations League matches.
McClaren follows in the same mold.
It’s clear a former England manager who was working with Manchester United has more experience working with top players and more connections in England than Whitmore or any other Jamaican candidate. The reward is certainly greater, but so too is the risk. After all, Hallgrímsson left for what is seen on the outside as a lateral move but one he feels pushed to after continued frustration with the JFF.
Now that their fellow Caribbean power will have to decide their strategy. They, too, have had success and failure with managers from abroad, celebrating with Beenhakker and Stephen Hart, getting frustrated with Tom Saintfiet and Terry Fenwick. It has been a wide range.
The debate about going with a domestic or foreign manager is not unique to Concacaf: With Ecuador finalizing the the appointment of Sebastián Beccacece, if Paraguay’s expected move current Costa Rica manager Gustavo Alfaro comes through, six of CONEMBOL’s 10 national teams will be led by Argentines.
Some of that is down to a reverence for Argentine soccer. They’re the world champions for a reason, and educating coaches on how to develop and lead players is a big part of it. Others, well, it’s a copycat sport. If your neighbor gets an Argentine manager, it might be time for you to do the same.
Evaluating an international manager is tough. There isn’t a huge sample size, and the games that really matter are in short supply. Plus, the manager can only work with the player pool a country has. Sure, Jamaica has the advantage of a number of players from English academies being eligible, but there are a finite number of those players - many of whom, like Ivan Toney or Raheem Sterling, put on the Three Lions instead of becoming a Reggae Boy.
McClaren and whoever the T&T boss is both will be charged with doing some recruitment, but it’s also about setting up these teams that do have talent in a way that will see the succeed on the field.
One absolute that should guide the decision-making process on any hire: It’s time for the standard to be higher. The expanded World Cup means there are tickets to be punched for the World Cup. Jamaica’s Gold Cup finals in the past are an indication of their talent as well.
Yet, neither Caribbean team has been able to win a major tournament or capitalize on their one World Cup appearance.
No matter who is managing the men’s national teams, it’s time for fans to demand more of their governing bodies, asking for the right hires in these roles but also in development roles. Rather than moan about bringing in a foreign coach, demand investment in coaching education so the next hire is so obvious: It’s that domestic-based hot shot thriving with the U-20 team, or at a club or in a league abroad.
Until then, the debate will continue - as will international managers’ constant search for long-term housing.
Hey, want to learn a fun fact about Trinidad and Tobago?
This isn’t relevant at all, but I learned yesterday on an Olympics podcast that the wavy-arm guys you see outside used-car dealerships were invented for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by Peter Minshall, who grew up in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Wavy-arm guys … Concacaf heritage.
All right, have a great weekend! I’ll have some pieces up on LeaguesCup.com and be back in premium subscribers’ inboxes for the usual Monday newsletter!
If I never get to use the wavy arm guy origin story in pub trivia then life is officially not fair.