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Cavalier will look to rebuild team, says Speid
August 27, 2025
After two matches this season defending Concacaf Caribbean Cup (CCC) and Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions Cavalier are still to taste victory. They have lost 2-0 away to Cibao of the Dominican Republic in the opening CCC game and drew 0-0 with Harbour View to start the defence of their JPL crown.
Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid says his team, which has won three of the last four JPL finals and made the last two CCC finals, will 'struggle' this year, and will embark on a rebuilding process.
Speid noted that over the past six seasons they have lost key players after every campaign, but that only four players remain from their championship team from 2021 to last season, and that the rebuilding will require much more this season as it's like starting all over again.
"After eight years we have never finished lower than third in the competition, and post pandemic we have been to four finals, won three, lost one.
"So it has been a really good period for us. But we only have four players from 2021 still in the squad and with the departure of some of the real stars such as (Dwayne) Atkinson, (Richard) King, Vino Barclett and Jalmaro Calvin. I have to rebuild.
"Over the five years we have always lost players. But this time, those players can't be replaced. Atkinson was the best overall player in the Caribbean. King was the best defender. Barclett was the best goalkeeper and Calvin was second top scorer and was the best young player. And they are all gone.
"They scored 40 out of 65 goals (last season). How do you replace that? So I expect us to struggle and have issues," he said.
He declared that they will not change their transfer policy in order to be competitive right away, but will stick with their policy of bringing
through young players and allow them time to grow in the JPL.
"The sensible thing is to rebuild because if I am just trying to win, we could run into trouble later on because players won't just come into the league and adopt to that standard.
"We have filled all the spots that we can from the youth ranks and we have imported a few from overseas, all very young players.
"A lot of clubs have tried to continue winning straight and there is a decline. But we are definitely in a rebuilding mode," he stated.
"We are going to start (JPL) slow like we did in the Caribbean Cup. But let us see how quickly our players can respond and get to the heights we are used to."
Nevertheless, he said it is up to him and his coaching staff to get the players to the standard they expect them to be playing at.
"It's a long season. We are battling on a lot of different fronts, so we have to be aware of everything but we will make adjustments. We might bring in a few new players, and all that we need to do is get the team to where we want it to be.
"So our work is cut out for us. We never shy away from hard work but the technical staff will have to work overtime," Speid concluded.
