Speid credits JFF, PFJL for club championships success
Published:Sunday | October 8, 2023 | 12:11 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
HAVING BOOKED a spot in the semi-finals of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, last season’s beaten Jamaica Premier League (JPL) finalists Cavalier have set sights on capturing their first title on the regional stage.
Rudolph Speid-coached Cavalier will play against Jamaican rivals Harbour View in their semi-final fixture. The coach believes having two local teams at this stage of the competition is a win-win for Jamaica.
Speid also hailed governing bodies Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) for their work on local soil, which he believes is bearing fruit.
“It’s definitely because the Jamaica Premier League has gotten better. So, with a better premier league, you’ll have better teams. Therefore, thanks must be given to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Christopher Williams and the JPL who actually made this happen with the league,” said Speid.
Speid added that, along with having a significant number of televised games, and good surfaces, having more quality coaches now than ever before is making the JPL a better product.
“The matches were placed on good venues, were televised, and also the coaches have also gotten better. If you look at the coaches now in the league, they’re much better now than they used to be,” Speid added.
Cavalier ended the group stage of the ongoing Concacaf Caribbean Cup unbeaten from their four games, while scoring the most goals, 11, among all the teams.
According to Speid, a weakened Cavalier unit has proven to him that his programme for developing players is working.
“We lost four of our top players from last season in Dwayne Atkinson, Richard King, Collin Anderson and Ronaldo Webster. Among those four players, we lost about 85 per cent of our goals. So I was wondering where it was going to come from. However, we were able to replace them and this forward line is currently firing with 11 goals from four games. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” said Speid.
One of the leading front men for Cavalier is Shaneil Thomas, who has scored seven of his team’s 11 goals. Speid is hoping that, with all of 16 days before the semi-final, Thomas and the rest of his front line can stay sharp.
“On Friday night, we played against the St Lucian national team in a benefit match, and Shaneil Thomas and Jalmaro Calvin were on target again. It seems as if they can’t stop scoring goals, so this is a good place to be.”