Rudolph Speid declared that he will not retake the role of Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical committee chairman, but remains open to staying on as head coach of the senior Reggae Boyz.
Speid has received commendation and criticism in equal measure after the nation’s 2026 World Cup dream ended in Mexico on Tuesday with a defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the FIFA Intercontinental Play-off final, while many critics are calling for him to step aside completely.
He has received a lot of compliments for the team’s performance at the play-offs and remains open to staying in the job.
“It depends on what the president and the board wants to do. I am a nationalist. Anything the country asks me to do, I will do. But if I am to worry about what a few people say, then I wouldn’t be the man for the job any way,” he commented after the team arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday.
“So I am not worried about what they are saying. I know the amount of people who called me and left messages on my phone, saying I need to continue. They think I did well. Anybody that saw the two games, saw that Jamaica started to look like a proper team.”
Man of many interests
However, he noted that he is a man of many interests outside of football, and that he will consult with his family before deciding his next move.
“I don’t know [if I want to continue long-term] because one of my issues that I have is, I have a lot of talents. I have a lot of things I can do. I can change the direction of my life tomorrow by doing something completely different from football.
“There are a lot of considerations to think about before making a decision, talk to my family, et cetera. It’s not going to be such an easy decision. I will have some time off, and then I’ll make a decision,” he stated.
There was no doubt, though, when asked if he would return to his role as technical committee chairman, a position he relinquished to take up the job of a national coach.
“No [I will not return as technical committee chairman]. If you look at my track record on that committee, I was the one who implemented the national training centre. I have done women’s football and the men’s football revamp. I have done coaching education and club licensing. So I think I have done a lot there.
“The only one that I didn’t do so well was the elite football. But I am satisfied with the amount of work I have done there.
“You would have seen the benefits with the under-17 qualifying (World Cup), the under-20s doing extremely well. So I am pleased with the job I’ve done as technical committee chairman.”
He disclosed also that he has received numerous offers from outside Jamaica that he is also considering.
“It’s not just people from Jamaica asking me to take up roles. There are a lot of people coming and asking if, Speid, can you do this for us? People all over the world.
“So I am not worried about what people think. I will make a decision as soon as I talk with my family, and then we will see what happens.”
He added that the team put in an effort against DRC that would make people proud.
“It was just luck (goal), and that’s a part of the game. We had more corners. We just never got that lucky; and if you look at the replay, that goal should probably not have been awarded.
“So a lot of things in this game went against us, and VAR always go against us. In the Stadium (against Curacao) it was the same thing. Got a penalty and VAR overruled it.
“But I thought the team played exceptionally well. If you look at all the stats, we were ahead of DR Congo, except in the goal column.
“I am proud of the effort we gave. We had one and a half days of training for the first game. With DR Congo, we drew in full time, and I think VAR beat us, but our ranking went up. So probably it was a successful stint,” he commented.
