Despite reports of a rift with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), secretary-general Dennis Chan said there were no issues between him and Heimir Hallgrimsson, who resigned as head coach of the Reggae Boyz on Sunday following their winless Copa America campaign.
The 57-year-old Icelandic coach resigned after his team’s 3-0 loss to Venezuela at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas. The Icelandic national team also lost to Mexico (1-0) and Ecuador (3-1) and failed to pick up a single point in the tournament.
Hallgrimsson, who will take over in 2022, said after Sunday’s game he wanted to focus on the positives and believes he left the program in better shape than he found it.
There were reports that he was unhappy with the JFF and that the JFF had lost confidence in Hallgrimsson.
However, Chung downplayed the reports and insisted that their separation was amicable.
“At the meeting (Sunday), the chairman (Michael Ricketts) said he understands (Hallgrimsson’s) position as no position is permanent. These things happen. People have different reasons for wanting to quit and what we need to look at is continuity. Anyone saying this clearly doesn’t understand how organisations work. People come and people go. You see that a lot in football organisations. Coaches make decisions, sometimes coaches are relieved of their duties and sometimes the situation is fluid,” Chong told the Jamaica Observer.
During his nearly two-year tenure, Hallgrimsson won 11 of his 28 games in charge, including appearances in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League semi-finals.
While many supporters felt the team’s performance had been disappointing, Chong believes the manager deserves praise for what he has achieved during his tenure.
“He’s been successful. If you think about it, it’s the first time we’ve finished third in the Nations League. We’ve played in the Gold Cup and we’ve played in the Copa America, which is the second biggest tournament after the World Cup. He’s built a great team and I think the path is clear. The foundation of the team is much stronger, there’s more camaraderie between the players and I think the players are much more professional,” he said.
Chung said Hallgrimsson will continue to serve as an advisor to the program, despite stepping down as head coach.
“Like he said, he’s not here just to get paid to do something, but he’s still very dedicated and assured us that whenever we need to call him, we can call him. He also comes to watch the boys’ tournaments because it was a good relationship,” Chong said.
Chung believes head coaching positions are already in high demand and that Hallgrimsson’s work will make the transition easier.
“We have started the search and a lot of people have contacted us saying they are interested. There is no shortage of people who want to coach Jamaica. Jamaica is a big brand,” he said.
“When a coach leaves a team, of course there will be some changes, but we had very detailed discussions about continuity. He is a very organised person and has a lot of data. He also involves the (technical) team so there is a lot of knowledge here. In the meeting he said, ‘Here is the blueprint. Everything I have done is documented’ in terms of the players we are looking to sign, the players he is looking at. What he has done is very detailed and we are quite confident about it,” Chung said.
