THOUGH keen on the concept of serving as a players’ agent, former Reggae Boy Ricardo “Wily Boo” Fuller says he has his sights fully set on becoming head coach of a club or national football team.

“I’m always going to be involved with football. My professional playing days are over. I’m 40, heading onto 41, so my ambition is to be a coach at the highest level, whether for club or country,” he said during a recent wide-ranging interview with the Jamaica Observer.

The England-based Fuller, who turns 41 in October, was in the process of acquiring his UEFA B licence before the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) interrupted his studies.

He has Level Two certification in coaching, whereas the UEFA B badge is Level Three. The upgrade would qualify him to join the coaching ranks of an academy which falls under the authority of the Football Association in England.

Fuller’s extensive football career, most of which was spent plying his trade professionally in the United Kingdom, has afforded him a long contact list which he believes will come in handy in the future.

“It’s also good when you can represent a player — I’ve always liked that side of it — because I know about football and I’ve learned working with [former Jamaica teammate] Darryl Powell as well. I identify players for him because he’s the licensed Fifa agent,” Fuller said, noting he is only permitted to spot talent for qualified agents.

“Obviously, with my name and contacts and clubs I’ve represented — I’ve represented quite a few clubs here so that’s a plus side for me. People know me and managers have respect for me, so I try to use those things. The strengths I have I try to use them in the right way, whether being an agent or acquiring [the coaching certification].

“But ultimately, the goal is to become a manager and to manage at the highest level,” reiterated the former Camperdown High schoolboy football standout.

He stressed that systematic progression, ideally through a football academy, will provide the ideal base for his dream job.

“I want firstly to be introduced into an academy set-up. You have to creep before you walk, you have to walk before you can run, and you have to run before you can sprint,” he said.

“You’ve seen instances in which some young coaches try to jump too far, and try to run too fast and they end up in failures. You need to learn as much as possible before[hand].

“Right now, I’m still trying to push through budding talents, teaching kids the right things from the start, but I want to work in the academy set-up and obviously move on to taking charge of a team. But all that’s a long way off with this thing [pandemic],” said the ex-Stoke City striker.

Looking at the country of his birth, Fuller said there is plenty of talent in Jamaica.

He cited as an example impressive wide player Leon Bailey, who came through the academy system at Genk in Belgium before starring for the club, and then grabbing the attention of German Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen which acquired him in a multimillion-euro deal.

“The talents are there [in Jamaica]. Yes, there’s the permit criteria, so a lot of players can’t come to England, but there are other avenues. There’s Belgium and from there you could end up in the German league like Leon Bailey did, or you can end up in Scandinavia,” Fuller reasoned.

“As many players as we can get out it would be great for Jamaica because those guys would be getting top-class training, top-class [playing] surfaces and top-class nutrition. Football takes money, but it makes money,” Fuller told the Observer.