1 year ago
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GENERAL SECRETARY of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Dennis Chung has labelled the recent criticism the organisation received from former Reggae Boyz coach Heimir Hallgrimsson an unnecessary distraction.
Still, Chung went on to explain that the JFF did everything it could to accommodate the Icelandic coach during his time with the national team.
Hallgrimsson, now the coach of Ireland, told the Irish Sun recently that his new environment is somewhere he can learn, but that while in Jamaica he was more of a teacher.
He revealed also that he criticised the way some things were done and tried to change a lot, but those changes were not forthcoming.
However, Chung pointed out that, as a developing country with financial limitations, any coach that is appointed is expected to be a teacher and a leader who can help them advance on and off the field, and he believes Hallgrimsson was just not up for the challenge a developing football country like Jamaica brings.
“I saw the article and it is unfortunate. But, when a head coach comes here (Jamaica), he comes to teach because he comes with a certain amount of expertise.
“I don’t know what specifically he is speaking about. Everybody knows Jamaica is a developing country. Jamaica is a poor country. We do not have the infrastructure and that is an issue.
“And, as a poor country, we know that we need to resolve those things. But I do not know the other things that he’s speaking about because we try to accommodate all the things that we can within the context of our budget. So I did not know there were any issues.”
“But this is a little distraction that we could do without. It is almost after a year, so I do not know if it is completely relevant right now,” he said.
He continued that every good organisation is always working to improve itself, and believes that Hallgrimsson was unable to see out the task, and hence abandoned ship.
“What we do as leaders when given a task is we set a goal to get changes, because we are given that responsibility as leaders to transform an environment and get to a certain goal
“If I had taken that attitude when I got to the JFF, we wouldn’t be where we are today from an administrative point of view.
“But the reason organisations hire people is to help them change for the better, and it is our responsibility to do what is necessary as leaders to change it.
“Every staff member recognises that there are things that need to change, and they put their heads down and get the job done and get where we want to go.
“No organisation is perfect but it is the responsibility of leaders to make changes. So we have that responsibility as leaders,” he stated.
Hallgrimsson also claimed that the general staff around the team was unhappy.
“They always had the choice to quit and find another environment to work in. I then realised that there were certain things that I could not change or that it would take a very long time to change them.
“Then I was actually faced with the same choice as the staff who were not happy. I didn’t see myself being able to continue for another two years in this working environment,” Hallgrimsson stated.
However, Chung refuted those claims as well, saying that they’ve had no complaints.
“The staff that has been here is the one that is still here. If they are not happy, they would have left.
“We don’t get any complaints, so I do not know. If you do not get people saying they have an issue, it cannot be addressed.
“We have people who come to us sometimes to say they do not like this or that. But, as leaders, we sit and work it out and try to make it better.
“But I don’t know of any general discontent. I have a good relationship with my staff, so I cannot speak to that.”
English (US) ·