Hunt For Jamaica Head Coach Has Hall As “Frontrunner”
JFF take their time for new appointment ahead of June’s CONCACAF Nations League campaign
Paul Hall has emerged as the “frontrunner” to be appointed head coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, despite bagging just one win in his short tenure.
Hall, who was promoted from assistant coach to Theodore Whitmore to interim head coach in December, initially suffered four defeats on the bounce. Yet he has recently seemingly turned the heads at the JFF.
Hall sealed four from a possible nine CONCACAF World Cup qualifying points in his final three games at the helm. Rudolph Speid, JFF competitions chairman, disclosed to The Gleaner newspaper about 49-year-old Hall: “We haven’t finished assessing him as yet, but he is still the frontrunner.
“But other people are still applying, we are looking at some other people and we have to do that”.
The reason that the JFF are deliberating their hunt for a head coach is that the Boyz do not kick off their next competitive games until June.
Jamaica get their CONCACAF Nations League ball rolling in the summer, pitted in the same round-robin group as mighty Mexico and relative minnows Suriname. The teams face each other once in June with the return legs in March.
As the top two sides will automatically progress to the prestigious 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Jamaica cannot afford to make and slip-ups to the FIFA world no.141 Suriname like they did during their dismal World Cup qualifying campaign.
Hall’s record of one victory in seven games is far from impressive, which has divided fans, former players and many of the island’s leading coaches as to whether he is the right man to guide Jamaica forward.
Names have not come to light about alternatives, although former Jamaica coach John Barnes would be seen as a fans’ favourite.
The former England left winger, born in Kingston, took brief charge of the Boyz in 2008 before a short-lived stint at Tranmere Rovers manager in 2009.
He has not coached since and is currently working as a tv pundit with US sports channel ESPN and South African broadcaster SuperSport.
CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE DRAW
League A
Group A | Mexico, Jamaica, Suriname
Group B | Costa Rica, Panama, Martinique
Group C | Canada, Honduras, Curaçao
Group D | United States, El Salvador, Grenada
League B
Group A | Cuba, Guadeloupe, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados
Group B | Haiti, Bermuda, Guyana, Montserrat
Group C | Trinidad & Tobago, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Bahamas
Group D | Guatemala, French Guiana, Dominican Republic, Belize
League C
Group A | Bonaire, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten
Group B | St. Kitts & Nevis, Aruba, Saint Martin
Group C | St. Lucia, Dominica, Anguilla
Group D | Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands
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