ALTHOUGH there are plans to recruit more foreign-born players to play for the Reggae Boyz, Head Coach Steve McClaren says he intends to give locally based players the opportunity to make his squads next year.

The former England manager and Manchester United assistant coach ended his first four moths in charge of Jamaica with back-to-back defeats to the USA in the Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals last week. His record now stands at two wins, two draws and two losses — a win percentage of 33.

Since his arrival at the end of July, McClaren has only selected four players from the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League – defender Richard King and midfielder Adrian Reid Jr, both from Cavalier, and goalkeeper Shaquan Davis and midfielder Jahshaun Anglin, both from Mount Pleasant Football Academy.

However they’ve received limited playing time, with King playing the entire second half in the second-leg, 4-2 defeat to the USA and Anglin playing just over six minutes in October’s goalless draw against Honduras.

McClaren, though, says he plans to watch more local games and will be naming a local-based squad in the coming months to hopefully add more Jamaica-based players to the main squad.

“We need to not miss a talent on the island. I’ve seen a few games [but] not enough. I’ve seen a few local players who have come in on [Assistant Coach] Merron Gordon’s initiative but [the break] gives me an opportunity to come over [to Jamaica]. And I think what we plan to do is to have a squad of island-based players, maybe US-based players, and have a little mini camp where we can get the local players together, work with them for a week, and maybe play two games,” he said.

“I’ve seen some games with Cavalier and Mount Pleasant and seen talent in the teams — players like Anglin has come in, Richard King making his first appearance for us, and I’m very impressed with that. So, there is talent here and we got to make sure we don’t miss any.”

McClaren also believes engaging with the local fans will be important in improving the team’s fortunes on the field.

“We as the JFF — not just from the top but the staff and players — need to continue to keep the connection with the fans, the culture, because the connection with the fans is so important, and I think we’ve seen that. The last attendance against the US, what an atmosphere! And it’s great to play in front of that; the players talked about that and the vibe within the stadium,” he said.

“We concentrated on that, we tried to do things, we tried to get close to people, and we’re going to do that in the future. We had a visit with the team to Bob Marley Museum; fantastic, great education. We came away from that feeling elevated that we’re closer to the Jamaican culture and what the people are all about. We’ve got to really continue that.”

McClaren, however, will continue his search for overseas players with Jamaican heritage as he looks to improve the squad.

“We talked about preparation for World Cup qualification and we need better players, players suited to how I want to play, so we’re going to be searching high and low in Europe, UK and the US to make sure we don’t miss a talent. And that talent must be better than what we’ve got, that’s the key thing,” he said.

“We’ve got a good squad at the present moment, great attitude, good players. The only people who we want to bring in are people who are better and can add to that squad, so in terms of recruitment, that becomes vital. We’ve tried a lot of players. We need a certain squad of players, I would say 33 — three players in each position — and we pick from that pool and we have 23 for each camp, so we need to do that.”

The Reggae Boyz next confirmed international assignment is the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary round in March when they will take on St Vincent and the Grenadines home and away as they seek to qualify for the Concacaf Gold Cup in June.

Jamaica and Cavalier FC defender Richard King (left) and USA midfielder Yunus Musah fight for the ball during their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final, second-leg match at Energizer Park in St Louis, Missouri, on Monday November 18, 2024. (AFP)

Jalmaro Calvin (centre) of Cavalier FC is congratulated by Vino Barclett (right) and his teammates after he scored the second goal for his team in their Jamaica Premier League match against Vere Phoenix, played at Sabina Park on Sunday. Cavalier won the match 2-1. (Naphtali Junior)

Alex Marshall (second left) congratulates teammate Kimoni Bailey after scoring the winning goal in Mount Pleasant’s 2-1 victory over Arnett Gardens in the 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup group stage match at Sabina Park on August 27, 2024. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Dunbeholden FC’s Fabion McCarthy (right) tries to elude Montego Bay United’s Shaniel Thomas during the Jamaica Premier League match at Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James on Sunday. (Paul Reid)