We don’t need to be rocket scientists to know that culture and human behaviour are intricately interwoven.

Yet, many mistakes are made because that obvious reality is often ignored.

To the eternal credit of Brazilian Mr Rene Simoes, who guided Jamaica to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, he had a deep appreciation for the importance of culture.

We remember shortly after his arrival here in the mid-1990s he spoke of an aggressive inclination he had noticed in the Jamaican personality.

It was a quality that need not have negative consequences, he appeared to suggest. Rather, his job would be to seek to channel that aggression in a positive way on the football field.

The ‘never say die’ attitude as the Reggae Boyz challenged for every ball, and found a way to lift their play even against seemingly superior opposition, suggests that perhaps Mr Simoes succeeded in that regard.

Since his arrival late last year, head coach of the Reggae Boyz, Icelander Mr Heimir Hallgrímsson, has repeatedly highlighted the need to understand Jamaicans and their culture if he is to do his job properly.

In his latest interview with this newspaper, Mr Hallgrímsson comes across as humble and wise as he speaks about “jumping, again, into unknown territory…”

He reminds us that after guiding his native Iceland to the 2018 World Cup he learnt new lessons when he moved to Qatar “to a new religion, a new way of thinking, new culture. I learned there that [it] was me that needed to adjust to this new environment, so I know now I need to start to learn the environment [in Jamaica] before I start to tell people what to do”.

The way he tells it, now that he is in Jamaica he needs to learn “just what are the limits? How you talk to people, and how you learn from the people around you — that is always the first step. Before you start to take charge you have to learn about your students and your teammates, and your superiors. That is what I’m trying to do …”

We believe that’s excellent thinking. Obviously, for anyone focused on building a football programme, resource-starved Jamaica is, in numerous respects, a much greater challenge than oil-rich Qatar and many other places across the globe.

But Mr Hallgrímsson is seeing the bright side. Jamaica, he claims, has “unlimited talent” and the “player pool is so deep” that “it will be tricky” to select his squad and final 11 as he looks towards tournaments, including the Concacaf Nations League, the Concacaf Gold Cup, and Concacaf World Cup qualifiers.

In fact, he believes selection will be his “hardest task” precisely because of his range of choice. And while he did not mention it, we know that a challenge for Mr Hallgrímsson will be developing an understanding, and bonding, with not only Jamaican players born and nurtured here, but also those born and socialised overseas.

We wish him well as he soaks up Jamaican culture and strives to get his “philosophy” across to those who must deliver on the field of play.