Winfried Schäefer’s days as a coach of football in Jamaica may be long over, but the outspoken German maintains more than a cursory interest in the island and its most engaging sport.

The 71-year-old Schäefer, who served as head coach of the Reggae Boyz from 2013 to 2016, thinks his protégé Miguel Coley has developed into a solid candidate for the position he vacated four years ago.

Coley, who sprung to national prominence with his unmatched success at Jamaica College, has served as Schäefer’s assistant during the German’s three-year tenure in Jamaica.

The working relationship between the two flourished so much that when Schäefer was removed as Boyz head coach by the incoming Michael Ricketts-led administration, the silver-haired tactician took Coley with him on a criss-crossing journey on the coaching frontiers of the Middle East.

Today, both men are still pursuing coaching projects in the region.

“Miguel is a very good coach. I first saw him in training and the matches of the school football [competitions]. Today, I think he would be the best national coach for Jamaica. He does very good work, and when Jamaica football is in better position, I hope the JFF [Jamaica Football Federation] will take him and make him the national coach.

“He is a very good coach, and I think the best thing for the national team is to take back Miguel Coley,” Schäefer told the Jamaica Observer recently from Qatar, where he has taken the reins at Al-Khor Sports Club.

In a previous interview with the Observer, Coley did indicate he would not be opposed to coming back to serve the national programme in some capacity in the future, as he continues to hone his coaching skills on the international club scene.

Schäefer, however, did not respond to a question regarding his thoughts on the status of the Reggae Boyz and its standing Head Coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore.

But having seen it first hand, he was quick to offer views on the broader issues impeding the growth of the nation’s football.

“Jamaica’s football problem is not the players; the problem is poor infrastructure — there are no good stadiums, and the fields are not good. The money is not very high in Jamaica either.

“Jamaica has good talent and [one such] player is [Leon] Bailey who plays in [Bayer] Leverkusen, he is a good player,” noted Schäefer, who had recent coaching tenures in Iran with Esteghlal and Baniyas of the United Arab Emirates.

The German, who played top-flight football in his homeland with Borussia Monchengladbach in the main, stressed the importance of a strong national programme in the elevation of players.

“In the time when I was in Jamaica, many players went to big clubs…we had success in our team. We were in the Gold Cup final and we lost against Mexico [1-3]. We were also in the Copa America in Chile.

“When you want a player to go to a club in another country, you need a good national team. I remember after we beat the USA in Atlanta [Gold Cup semi-finals 2015], many foreign clubs asked why we didn’t have more players from Jamaica playing [in Europe],” Schäefer said.

The German, who also coached Cameroon from 2001 to 2002, reiterated the importance of having foreign-based players mixed in with the best of the local pool — a direction that the governing Jamaica Football Federation has maintained, but is often criticised.

“You have a crazy clown who always comes on TV [in Jamaica]. I don’t remember his name. He talks every time about the local players, but he doesn’t understand football. You cannot play only with local players. The local players need foreign players like Wes Morgan and Adrian Mariappa, that is important. After that the local players can play well and can go to other countries,” Schäefer reasoned.

The former Thailand national coach believes that one of the reasons Jamaican players lag in getting more players into the lucrative European market is a lack of hunger.

“I once asked a [local-based] player why more players from Cameroon play in Europe than Jamaicans, and he could not answer. In Cameroon the players have the same problem with bad fields, some of them play in the sand. But the difference is that these players are very hungry and wants to go to Europe, and they fight to get there.

“In Jamaica, it’s a nice life as you have sunshine, you have everything that you want, and that is the problem. Jamaican players have to hurry, at maybe 14 or 15 years old, and go to a club in Europe, and there they can learn about football, about discipline. That is what Jamaica needs,” Schäefer noted.

Even though he can boast of lifting the Caribbean Cup, taking the Boyz to their first Gold Cup final, the German said his main goal eluded him in his short stay in Jamaica.

“I wanted Jamaica to go to the World Cup and that was my career goal. But of course in the qualifications [Brazil 2014] I came too late.

“[In the qualifiers] Costa Rica came on a private plane directly to us and played. Our team goes from Kingston to Miami and the players slept in the airport. If you do not have good preparation, then you won’t win matches if you want to qualify for the World Cup.

“I know money was a problem, of course, so what Jamaica needs is a big sponsor that can help the football. Jamaica also needs good coaches and good fields,” Schäefer said.

He singled out Roy Simpson for special mention, noting that the Boyz team manager has been doing outstanding work and one who possesses the skill set to help to drive the programme into the future.

“Roy Simpson is perfect as manager. I think he is a very good man, and he can help the organisation. I remember once he had suggested we have a tournament so we can see all the players, but nobody helped him at that time.

“To have players in the small clubs make a tournament so then we as coaches can see all players and make a very good local team was a good idea,” Schäefer recalled.

Even though his departure from the national programme was far from cordial, Schäefer has opted to focus what was good about his experience in Jamaica.

“Jamaica was nice; it’s a nice country with the Blue Mountain coffee, nice people, nice beaches. The only thing that shocked me was the shooting in the night,” he ended.