Paul Hall has eyes on Renaldo Cephas
Reggae Boyz Head coach Paul Hall has admitted that he is quite impressed by Arnett Gardens starlet Renaldo Cephas.
The winger has improved leaps and bounds this season and has added goals to his game.
His brace against Tivoli Gardens in the West Kingston derby last Sunday moved him up to 10 goals and in contention for the Golden Boot as he now trails leader Daniel Green of Mount Pleasant FA by just two goals.
When quizzed about Cephas at the Nations League post-match press conference after a 3-1 win over Suriname, Hall said Cephas was unlucky not to be in the squad at the moment.
“I have actually had Cephas in the camp and he is very, very unlucky not to be called up and it’s only because that number of seven, is only seven, because he would have been called up because I did have him and I did want to take him to Peru, which was my first game.”
Hall says that seven is the number of “developing players” that he has in his squad along with 16 core players and that is the reason why Cephas is missing out at the moment.
However, he isn’t ruling out the possibility of the player being drafted in very soon.
“I have had him in the Under-23’s locally. He is a fantastic footballer. I want to play a certain brand of football and I want to give them back to their football clubs with a little bit of advice for their coach about how to provide a pathway and he is one of the players who I’m definitely going to target, because he is really good,” Hall said.
As for other local-based players, there is hope of being called up and being a part of the national set-up the head coach assured.
“There are a lot of local footballers who are good. I have got the SportsMax app, I watch it as much as I can and when I am here, I am always at the games watching the players. I have got my little black book writing these names down.
“If anybody shows a sparkle that I believe that I can make better, then why wouldn’t I invite them in? Just to make that person better, because it gets them to believe.”
Arnett Gardens will play already crowned regular season champions Waterhouse in their final regular season game today at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex and Cephas could ring the bell once again for a chance to be included in the Nations League squad.
The Nations League continues on Tuesday and Jamaica will host Mexico at the National Stadium in their third game of the round.
— Dwayne Richards
