Despite heavy criticism surrounding his appointment as new technical advisor to the Reggae Boyz, Rudolph Speid says he’s not bothered by the naysayers and that he’s more than qualified to help lead the team to next year’s FIFA World Cup.

The Jamaica Football Federation officially announced Speid’s new role on Wednesday, saying he will provide technical assistance to the Steve McClaren-led technical staff for the upcoming final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying starting next month.

However, several stakeholders have pushed back against the appointment, citing a conflict of interest because of Speid’s position as the chairman of JFF’s Technical Committee as well as his technical director role of reigning Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalier FC.

But speaking with the Sunday Observer, Speid says he didn’t have any influence on the decision. He explained that he finally agreed after thinking it over carefully, especially after several tries from McClaren and others to get him on board.

“A year ago, the coach asked me, ‘Why you don’t come and help?’ and he’s not the first coach to ask me to come and help, other coaches have, but I believe this is an opportunity for us to qualify for the World Cup, one of our best chances,” Speid says.

“I was asked — some people might believe I pushed myself there, but I can only tell people that I’ve never ever applied for a job in my life, not even a working job. People have always asked me to do things and I either say no or accept it. So I was asked multiple times and this time I’ve accepted to help because I believe I can help.”

He added, “I’ve served in other sports — I was president of the volleyball association and I’m probably going to be the president of another association in the near future because the people are asking me to serve, and I’m like that. Once Jamaica needs me, I’ll be there in any situation. I can be nothing else except a Jamaican.”

Speid, who has won consecutive JPL titles as well as the Concacaf Caribbean Cup in the past two years, also hit back at his critics who says he’ll use his new role to boost his and Cavalier’s status.

“They talk stupid things, like I’m going to pick my players,” he says. “Would you believe that at Cavalier I don’t have that track record, because if I was hurry-picking players in the Cavalier team, I would never win these titles. I always pick the players who’s going to do the job at all times.

“Some of them think I have the ultimate power to hire and fire the coaches, that’s just rubbish. The recommendations of our committee, sometimes it’s taken and sometimes it’s not. Some of the times, we list one, two, three [options] for coaches and the number one [option] didn’t get in because the ultimate decision is the board.”

Despite the opposition, Speid says he intends to prove his doubters wrong.

“I don’t know where all of this is coming from,” he says. “As far I know, I’ve almost never failed at anything that I’ve done. When I say anything, I mean anything – football, business, etcetera. So I’m not worried about these people, they let me get better when they criticise me, I have to be better. I’m happy for them, they’re part of my journey and I love all of them same way.”

Speid believes he’s more equipped than ever before to help the Reggae Boyz after excelling in his various coaching licence programmes.

“One of the things that has given me strength is that I have my (Concacaf) A licence (coaching certification) and I’m doing the pro licence now,” he says. “This lecturer that came is one of the best in the world — he would have coached some of the top coaches in Europe right now and after being together for a week, he said, ‘Listen, don’t let anybody tell you anything, you’re one of the best I’ve ever taught.’

“I took heart from that and I realised that I may be selling myself short. I know that a lot of people think once it’s Jamaican, it’s not good enough, but I’m not one of those. We have conquered in the world in a lot of stuff, so I don’t see any reason why our coaches can’t be on par with some of the best in the world.”

Steve McClaren has also given a glowing review of the Cavalier boss and Speid is optimistic that their partnership will help Jamaica get by Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), and Bermuda to end their near-three-decade World Cup drought.

“Anything you can think about, we’d have spoken about it,” McClaren says. “We’ve gone through all the strengths and weaknesses of the team, we’ve looked at the game model that we’ll employ against the three teams and we’ve been very specific with the three teams in how they play and what they like to do. We’re looking also at the players in what the coach is trying to achieve.

“Me and Coach McClaren work very well together, I trust him and he trusts me — I think it’s a good partnership in my mind. We’ve put together a really strong team and come with all our might to challenge, and while people say the zone is easy, no match is easy, and we’re not going to be complacent.”

The final round of qualification begins next month with Jamaica travelling to Bermuda on September 5 before hosting T&T on September 9.

Only the group winner is guaranteed a spot in next year’s showpiece in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Head coach Steve McClaren (left) and members of the Reggae Boyz squad during a training drill at the National Stadium on June 9, 2025 ahead of their match against Guatemala in the second round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying.  (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Cavalier FC technical director Rudolph Speid officially began his role as Reggae Boyz technical advisor on July 30. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)