New Reggae Boyz coach wants fresh start

ICELANDER HEIMIR Hallgrimsson wants to begin his reign as head coach of the Reggae Boyz by placing the recent wranglings within the local football fraternity firmly in the past.

Hallgrimsson, speaking at a press conference at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel yesterday where he was officially introduced, called for support from the public, as he signed a four-year contract with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). He will guide the Reggae Boyz in their qualification bid for the 2026 World Cup which will be hosted by Concacaf teams, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

According to Hallgrimsson, his decision to take the job rested mainly on the potential the island possesses and he is excited to play a role in charting a football philosophy during his tenure as Reggae Boyz coach.

Hallgrimsson, a professional dentist who coached his country Iceland to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, wants to see a change in the relationship between the JFF and the players.

“I am a bit different from most coaches in a way that my income does not come from being a coach as football is not professional in Iceland, so my income comes from dentistry. I decided long time ago that if I had the chance to become professional, I would go and do that,” Hallgrimsson said.

“My passion is football, so when I am doing football time flies. So when I was looking for a project to coach the next time, I was really selective. It was not about the money, it was about the project and for me, it was the perfect match to come now to Jamaica and to try to fix what is broken.

“There are some obstacles that we have to cross and we have to improve some big things but for me, it was a perfect match. I see so much potential here. I think the potential is much more here than it was in Iceland,” he added.

TEDIOUS NEGOTIATION PROCESS

JFF president Michael Ricketts said the negotiation with Hallgrimsson was a tedious process, but while the entity will go all out to facilitate his stay, he was glad that the coach accepted the offer because of his passion. He said the hiring of Hallgrimsson is part of the new direction of the JFF.

“I want to use this opportunity to call on Jamaica for more commitment, more loyalty, more optimism as we try to change our football direction. The federation has been making important internal changes, which will position it to fully support what we announced today as well as a number of other national activities,” Ricketts said.

According to Hallgrimsson, while he imparts his philosophy to the players and the overall football programme, he will still seek to learn the culture of Jamaica. He said he learnt a lot of this from his experience while coaching in Qatar, where he went after stepping away from the top job in Iceland.

He argued that his dual role of coaching the Reggae Boyz and charting the island’s football philosophy will have to work in tandem and emphasised the importance of winning matches and getting success, while he builds unity for the 2026 World Cup.

“We all know that in every match, there is a pressure to win, there is an expectation to win and no coach will survive in a job without winning football matches. So that is just the basic fact, so yes, we want to have a good team in 2026, but we all know we have to win the matches we play starting with Argentina,” he said while admitting that he has a lot to learn about Jamaican football.

Jamaica play Argentina in a friendly international on September 27, which will be Hallgrimsson’s first match in charge.