KINGSTON, Jamaica – President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Michael Ricketts, will leave the future of the Reggae Boyz in the hands of local coaches, having promised not to seek out the services of foreign coaches for the head coaching job.
Despite the team failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ricketts says he would like to see interim coaches Rudolph Speid and Miguel Coley continue at the helm after what he described as Steve McClaren’s “mismanagement” of the national men’s team.
Jamaica’s dream of competing at this summer’s FIFA World Cup came crashing down after their 1-0 defeat to DR Congo in their intercontinental play-off final at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico.
With McClaren at the helm, the Reggae Boyz failed to qualify during the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying matches last year.
Following the 0-0 draw with World Cup-bound Curacao at the National Stadium last November, McClaren resigned immediately after 16 months in charge.
Speid was then given the job on an interim basis, with Coley as his assistant.
While Speid’s and Coley’s contracts as interim coaches expired last week, Ricketts said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer that he hoped the duo would continue in their respective roles.
“I tried again with overseas coaches and the rest is history. I don’t think the programme was managed very well. Now these local coaches are [living] here, they see our local players, they watch games, they keep abreast of what is happening in club football.
“They keep in contact with me, they keep in contact with the directors, so we are always updated on the technical aspect by these local coaches. They are here, so you are bound to have a relationship with them — not quite so when you have overseas coaches who are coming in and going out at their own discretion, which sometimes is not ideal to the situation,” Ricketts said.
“I would certainly want to have Speid and Coley to continue with our programmes. We have the [Concacaf] Nations League coming up later this year and, of course, I think next year is the Gold Cup. We have the Unity Cup in England at the end of May — that’s going to be critical — so these are some of the things that we’re looking forward to.”
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