‘Hall will not be in charge’

Jamaica interim senior men’s coach Paul Hall will not be in charge of the Reggae Boyz when the team travels to Austria for a mini football tournament, from August 20 to 26.

According to the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) technical committee chairman, Rudolph Speid, the series, which includes Morocco, Qatar and Ghana, takes place outside the regular FIFA international window and just ahead of the 2022-23 English football season. As a result, Hall, who has club commitments in England, will not be available for the series.

Nevertheless, Speid revealed that negotiations with Hall for a long-term agreement to coach the Reggae Boyz continues.

“Paul will not be the coach of the team for the upcoming games. We have somebody in mind, but Paul will not be the coach for the series because he has club commitments. He is currently employed to Queens Park Rangers. They have just kicked off the new season and it is not a FIFA window, so he will not be the coach for those three games,” Speid said.

Although he would not disclose the name of Hall’s stand-in for the series, he offered that it was someone with experience.

“We have someone in place, and someone with experience,” he said.

Speid, who is currently in England as chef de mission of Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games team, has already met twice with Hall’s representatives and he confirmed that talks will continue until his departure on August 8.

However, he added that the negotiations are mainly being stalled because both parties want to be clear in their demands of each other.

“We are still negotiating even though he does not have a contract right now. I have met with his representatives and we are still negotiating a long-term deal.

“A contract is not complete until everything is tied up, and we have not agreed on all the points. This is a whole assessment of where we are now; and our objective is to qualify for the World Cup in 2026.

“So we are making sure there is no misunderstanding about what the objectives are supposed to be.

“It is not just to simply hire a coach and leave him on his own. Our objective is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and we want no excuses when it comes to that.

“So now, it is for him to tell us how he is going to get there, and we have to believe that we are going to get there. It is not just the support staff. There are things the coach wants on the list, so that is why things are kind of complex.

“But there are many other things, plus the financing of it. So it is not so simple, but negotiations are ongoing, even though Paul will not be the coach for the upcoming games,” he stated.

Meanwhile, The Gleaner has been reliably informed that assistant coach Merron Gordon will oversee the team in Hall’s absence.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com