English desire
Ricketts prefers UK-based Reggae Boyz head coach; shortlist down to 5 ahead of August decision
With the interview process for the next Reggae Boyz head coach set to begin in the coming days, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts says he’s leaning towards an English coach to lead the national senior men’s programme.
Almost three weeks after Heimir Hallgrimsson’s resignation, the JFF has received close to 40 applications from European, South American and North American candidates as well as Jamaicans interested in the vacant position.
The Jamaica Observer has learnt that the JFF’s technical committee, chaired by Rudolph Speid, is now in the process of scheduling and conducting interviews after narrowing down the prospective candidates to five. A final decision is set to be made by early August, weeks before the Boyz return to action in the Concacaf Nations League in September.
Although not directly involved with the selection process, Ricketts believes an English person would be ideal due to the setup of the current squad.
“Simply, I would like a coach that knows the players, especially the English based players and I’d like a coach that the players know and they respect each other. That’s where my headspace would be, to find somebody out of Europe, specifically out of England who has a relationship with some of the players would know and have respect for him,” Ricketts told the Observer.
“I don’t know if the other members would agree but I would certainly want a coach that has a good relationship since our team is made up of a lot of English-based players.”
It’s understood that Hallgrimsson, who was appointed in September 2022, was paid over $70 million per year by the JFF before leaving for the Republic of Ireland National Senior Men’s Team.
Although the final five candidates haven’t been revealed, it’s likely that they could command a similar or higher salary than the Icelander did during his stint.
However, Ricketts says the JFF won’t be breaking bank if a sufficient financial package isn’t reached with the chosen candidate.
“The truth is we can’t go higher than what we can afford so we will need negotiate and of course we have worked out a figure that we can work with. Whoever the candidate or candidates are, they will have to accept what we can afford because you can’t hang your hat higher than you can manage,” he said.
Regardless of the who will be interviewed in the coming days, Ricketts is hoping that the new head coach breaks Jamaica’s near three-decade drought and qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
“We were disappointed and unhappy [with Hallgrimsson’s resignation] but I still want to wish the coach well, the show has to go on and we’re intent on getting the best candidate. The big picture is getting to the World Cup and it was that in mind why we went for Hallgrimsson, now that he has left we want to continue on that trajectory that we find a coach that has the requisite skills to take us to the World Cup. We’re just praying we make the right choice,” said Ricketts.
Ricketts also revealed that the decision on the some of the technical staff will be sorted after the announcement of the new head coach.
Swedish John Wall and Jamaican Merron Gordon, who served as assistant coaches under Hallgrimsson, are still under contract while goalkeeper coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson has resigned.
“Honestly, when we get the new coach, the precedence has been set that he would select his assistants [so] he, whoever that new coach is, will make that determination whether or not he will keep the present set of assistant coaches.”
The JFF president says the high demand in the head coach position shows that football in the country is heading in the right direction.
“The truth is that it sends a signal there are big name coaches that really want to work with the Jamaica Football Federation. We have had in excess of 30 applications, they’ve applied to the gen sec, the chairman of the technical committee, they’ve applied to me and to the JFF and some of these persons have been successful in the trade of coaching,” said Ricketts.
“Hopefully, soon we’ll be in a position to make the announcement on who the final candidate is.”