Head Coach Schäfer in Severance Package Discussions
Changes expected for Jamaica’s Caribbean Cup defence
Captain Horace Burrell will be hoping to win back the Jamaica fans when his Reggae Boyz kick-off their defence of the Caribbean Cup next month. Captain Burrell, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, is in the process of dismissing current head coach Winfried Schäfer.
And it is former Jamaica coach Carl Brown, who last led the Boyz in 2006, who is most likely to step into Schäfer’s shoes for the two Caribbean Cup matches against Suriname and Guyana. Schäfer, currently suspended by the JFF, earned his only silverware as head coach by capturing the 2014 Caribbean Cup in Montego Bay.
But apart from a shock run into last year’s Gold Cup, Schäfer’s record in competitive matches is poor and he has been slated by fans of the Boyz.
And it appears most unlikely that the German veteran will actually be in charge of the Boyz when they tackle Suriname on 5 October (8pm ko) at the 2,200-capacity Anthony Spaulding Complex at Collie Smith Drive in Kingston.
Guyana make up the three-team group, with each side hosting just a single home match against one opponent then drawn away against different opposition.
Schäfer’s legal representative is in discussions with the JFF about a severance pay, and he was allegedly earning US$5,000 per calendar month as manager.
He only survived fans’ demands of being given the boot by deploying new tactics during the last Caribbean Cup competition. Having leaked goals he opted to defend first and snatch goals on the counter-attack, and this paid off with a trophy.
However, he has not instilled any other tactics to his squad so they have become predictable and lack any goalscoring nous despite being a set of talented individuals.
Jamaica’s shambolic World Cup Qualifying campaign, bottom of their four-team group at the semi-final stage, and slipping to world no.80 this month has been the last straw for Captain Burrell and the rest of the JFF members.
The Boyz suffered a pair of 2-0 defeats in their must-win matches against Panama and Haiti respectively, leaving the Boyz as laughing stock in the Caribbean with just two goals and one victory from six group games.
Although a managerial change will be taking place, it is unknown whether new names will be among the Jamaica ranks for the three-team group games comprising the Boyz, Suriname and Guyana.
Schäfer, in a laughable yet desperate bid to try to win over fans and the JFF, made a complete U-turn about his squad.
Originally he vowed to find English-based players to form the nucleus of the team, but recently has promised that the Boyz will be players from the island with a sprinkling who ply their trade in North America’s MLS and England.
With Brown tipped be in the hot seat for the fourth time, having been in charge from 1990-94, 2001-04 and briefly in 2006, the veteran does not have too much pressure as he can walk away after these two Caribbean Cup games.
The Dutch colony of Suriname in South America, the world no.175 side, reached Round 2 of Caribbean Cup having topped their group with a win and defeat against runner-up Guadeloupe in March and Saint Martin withdrawing from the tournament.
Suriname, the 1978 Caribbean Cup champions, have not qualified for the final round of the competition since 2001 and finished fourth best runner-up in Round 2 to reach this stage against Jamaica and Guyana.
Jamaica, Haiti and 2014 Caribbean Cup runner-up Trinidad & Tobago have all been given a bye to Round 3 that comprises dozen teams.
The Boyz visit Guyana at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown on 11 October for their second tie. The 15,000-capacity stadium was purpose built for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Guyana, nicknamed the Golden Jaguars, lie 118 in this month’s FIFA world rankings and breezed through Round 1 of the Caribbean Cup with victories over Anguilla and Puerto Rico without conceding a goal.
Both of their Round 2 games resulted in seven goals, tasting a 5-2 home defeat to Curaçao then destroying the US Virgin Islands 7-0.
Guyana have named a provisional 55-player squad for their Round 2 matches against Suriname and Jamaica, with 19 from overseas.
Only the group winners in Round 3 will qualify for the four-team 2017 Caribbean Cup finals hosted in the United States between 22-25 June.
Round 3 qualifiers comprise:
Group 1 – Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname;
Group 2 – French Guiana, Haiti and St. Kitts & Nevis;
Group 3 – Antigua & Barbuda, Curaçao and Puerto Rico, plus;
Group 4 – Dominican Republic, Martinique and Trinidad & Tobago.
The group winners will earn a semi-final berth in the Caribbean Cup as well as an automatic place for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup that will be played in the United States between 9-30 July.
Should Brown make it to the dug out for next month’s pair of crucial ties against relative minnows, then back-to-back victories will be expected although his appointment is more than likely to be a temporary measure before the JFF appoint another head coach.
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