 Yes, thanks for staying with us on the Sportsmax Zone. We turn our attention now to Reign Neveu, Jamaica Premier League football. Matchweek 13 concluded on Thursday with victories for a number of title hopefuls. Let's look at the full results from the midweek fixtures now. Montego Bay United defeating Tivoli by two goals to one, snapping a seven game on read and run by the Tivoli Gardens team. Harbourview beaten to one by Waterhouse, Mount Pleasant in form now, 4-1 over Limehall. Vera Knight had beaten by Dunbar Holden to one, Humbleland beaten 4-1 by Portmore for their fifth straight victory of the ex-Champions. Mullines beaten 3-0 by Cavalier, who are now in form after a stuttering start to the season. And Arnett Garnes winning 2-0 over Treasure Beach, condemning Treasure Beach to their seventh consecutive loss. So problems there for the newcomers in the Premier League, Treasure Beach and Limehall both at the top, at the bottom of the table. Limehall without a victory from the 13 games they've played so far, Treasure Beach with just two wins in their 12 matches, but the top of the table shows the consistent, Mount Pleasant with 28 points. They're just one in front of Portmore United though and not too far behind, jointly on 24 points. Tivoli Garnes and Arnett Garnes, they're just four points off the lead both of them. Tivoli just slightly ahead on goal difference over Arnett Garnes. Cavalier and Dunbar Hall then the other teams occupying the playoff spots at the moment, Waterhouse in seventh two points off a playoff position. Vera United, Montiga Bay, Humbleland, Harbourview and Mullines in the bottom half of the table. So that's the current standings following match week 13 in the Jamaica Premier League. So Thursday's final fixture, the Tony Sparling sports complex, served up a homecoming for last year's Arnett Garnes, Kipper and Goal scoring machine, Fabian Paco Blacks-Reed, who was on the score sheet for the jungleists in the tune of victory over Treasure Beach, fresh from a short stint in India. Reed secured the player of the match award. You know Fabian, you know here and Arnett got a one-tap goal. It's a team sport, but I'm going to push myself, because they know what they expect from me, goals. So whenever I'm going to get the chance, I'm going to try to put it away for my team, get the lead. Yeah, Fabian Reed there, ace veteran for Arnett Garnes and had some stints overseas as well, played in Trinidad and Tobago, San Juan Jablote briefly and fresh from India. We'll talk about that in just a moment though, because apparently it wasn't the best of experiences for you. But I saw you on television a couple of nights ago and the story was there that you were returning to Arnett Garnes, but I didn't know it would happen so quickly. And you actually scored last night. Talk to us about your leaving Arnett Garnes though, for the trip to India. We've seen Caribbean players in India before. A lot of the contracts though weren't sustained. Maybe you can talk to us a little about that. But how difficult was it for you to leave Arnett Garnes in the first place to go on this India opportunity? To be honest, it's very difficult because the first time when I was getting the contract, they contact me and my name was discussing what was happening and what we were going to do about it. I said to them, okay, we're going to discuss salary and everything and reaching over there, they're supposed to give me a ticket like buy a ticket for me to reach. And when I look, I signed from September 1st and when I look, I'm still in Jamaica, October. So I moved and I bought my ticket to reach over there because I want experience and they told me when I reach over there, they will pay me for my three month salary and when I reach, no salary over there. So I keep on playing, I reach over there and I play. So the first game I play, I start the first game but I didn't score. The second game I start, I score. So I show them what I can do. The second, the third game I start and I assist. Still asking for a salary. No one is giving me any salary. No one is coming up front to me and telling me what about my salary and I am firmly to feed. So I make a decision, say I have to come back home and I just do that, just come back home. So was that salary issue sorted out in the end? No, I still up to today there. I don't get a salary. So you spent less than about two months in India? Yeah, but I signed the contract from the first of September. So it should have been retro? Yeah, so whenever I reach, they should give me salary. So let me be clear here. Your trip to India, you played a few games for Naroka, scored in the second game you played. You're saying that you receive no payment for your entire India trip? No payment. And no ticket as well? No ticket as well. I don't receive no ticket. So you just went for free and played for free? I just went for free and played for free. So what was your agent saying to you? My agent. He was responsible for taking care of your business there? All right. The agent is a person that work with the club, which I didn't know that he work with the club. I think he's just an agent. That he's an agent like normally he's just looking out for players. Not attached to a specific club? Yeah, yeah, I understand. So when I talked to him about this, he told me that, yes, you're going to get salary. So I said, when I reach, I will get it. He said, yes, when I reach, I know salary. And I play without salary, same because I love the sports. You understand? But I have family to take care of. So whenever I see that I'm not getting, I have to come back home. Not a lot of Caribbean players, Mariah, have played in India. A couple of Trinidadians had played in India. Abu Bakr and Marcus Josephson and so on had shorts in, short stints in India. Fabian talked to us about the quality of the competition there and how you would rate it against maybe the Jamaica Premier League or other leagues that you would have played in. Because I see Brazilians playing there and a lot of Australians and Englishmen as well. Yeah, quality, you know, the league is a quality league. You understand? But I think this is the club that I go at the time there in some problem at their own, their own wrong. So maybe if me, they are our next team, maybe they are more better. You understand? Each other more better. Maybe if me, they are our next team. So I just had the experience that I go and get there. But the league itself, it's okay. You understand? But you have a local problem with my team, which I really want, you know? But I still get that still. Yeah. You understand? Naroka, they were bottom or second from bottom of the table. They've been struggling. Yeah, they were struggling now. They're the bottom of the table right now because things are not going how it's supposed to go. Because to be honest, they know why it's not going. They know why they're not going how it's supposed to go. They know why they're not climbing. Because to be honest, we have a good team. They have a good team. You understand? But behind that, something is going wrong. Yeah, and clearly financial difficulties. You need money to play and money to win. You have family to take care of. So you need money to take care of family to family care. Okay. And it's a lot of difficulty again with all right. Whenever if you get any money, you cannot send out of the country. You understand? They don't send money out. They only receive money in India. So whenever I get something, I cannot send it out. You understand? If it's going to go out, it's a long story. You understand? It's a long story because I have to give someone money, like Indian person, that in a different country, that is in Syria. And they have to send it from Syria to Jamaica. So Fabian, based on your experience, right? Do you think if another opportunity ever comes up for a different club, would you consider it or you think you're done with this, based on that horrific experience that you had? Because it's still the opportunity is going to come. You understand? Maybe the next one we get, it can change something bigger. You understand? So we have to wait and see. And if it comes, we just go and see. But things in the pipeline see me to go overseas. But you're a little better this time. Yeah, I'm a little better. Because it's just I experienced that. I learned something. The care of bigger is, you know, you learn day by day. So you're back with your team, the team that you've captained on at Gardens. Yeah. What are the plans for this season? The plans for this season, you know, to win the league, you know, because as I can see, two seasons now back will go off-altar shot by semifinal. So this season, we have a couple players that we're going to get strength. So coming over, we're just working together and just try to win the league this season. That is our aim for this season. Our aim is for Kankakoft. Yeah, Kankakoft. Yeah, that is our aim. Have you set a goal target? Because they call you the goal-scoring machine, not for fun, but because of the number of goals that you've scored. Do you ever set a target, or is it that you just go with the momentum and how it scores, it scores? All right, to be honest, this is a really a set a target to be able to swan, for going at double figures. It's not a target, I said, but it's just one double figure. When we're playing at tournament, I always want to score a double figure. I always want to try a double figure to keep that firm of mind. So that is the reason. What's the mood like in the Onet Gardens camp? The mood is all right, you know. It's well, you know, happy for me and the well-comeback we get from the team, you know, them show me respect. So, you know, some effort to guide them and try to see if we can win it this season, because we need to win it this season. All right, Fabian, you're 32 years old now and you've played a lot of football for Onet Gardens, but apart from a couple of seasons ago, when I saw when you returned, you weren't 100% fit yet, but when you got back your fitness, the goals kept coming. How much of your success in the Jamaica Premier League now is due to your vast experience and know-how, because you have the confidence of playing in the league. So I remember you saying recently in an interview, in a post-match interview that the younger players look to you for leadership, and that certainly is the case, and I'm sure they're welcoming you back. But how confident are you that even at 32, you can deliver in the same way that you did in your 20s? The work I put in in training, so I show up on the field, because when I get up in age, you have to understand that you have to work harder, you have to work twice harder, you understand? So that is what I do. I go to the training ground, I work hard and push the younger guys and tell them, always keep telling them, when you get in older, you have to work more harder. So work hard, you have to try for work hard from now, come straight up, because if I'm not performing, if I'm not scoring goals here, I'm not fit or anything, I wouldn't continue playing sports here. But not that 32 is old, I just want to make that clear. It's just a number. Yeah, you're still 32, you're still a prime age to produce as a footballer. But did you return from India physically fit, what's your conditioning like, and how long have you been back home training? All right, I've been back home for I think a month. A month? Yeah, but I reached back to Jamaica straight in training. Yes. Straight in training. How fit were you when you came back to Jamaica? Yeah, I was fit. Because when we come back in, we play a two-practice game. The two-practice game that I play, I score five goals in a two-practice game. For real? Yeah, we play mountain plays, we play mountain plays at the academy, that are the younger guys, I will play more lines in a practice game. And in the two games, I score five goals. So I try to keep myself sharp, I try to keep myself in shape. You understand what I'm saying? It's just a number. It's just a number. So I'm going to try to work hard. Can you explain to me, just going back tracking to the India experience? What, were you at Naroka on a loan, and is it that returning to RNN? No, you've had to sign a new contractor. How did the paperwork go? The paperwork, it's not a loan, it's just an experience and go over there. So to come back, the paperwork is just a chance that I need, because I did have my termination before, so it's just a chance that I need to start to play back in Annick Garden. So the chance will come true, so I just have to go, they're going to deliver. But there is an aspect to your experience here that has to be highlighted though, Fabian, because somebody in India should have to explain what has happened. And I guess from a journalistic standpoint now, you have triggered us to reach out, to get some more on this story, because it seems unbelievable that you would have gone on a contract to play in India and not received any salary. On a professional, I think. The Indian officials must answer to that. What was your response from them when you put your case there? All right, to be honest, I sent out a lot of email to the Football Federation for India. Not just your club? Not just my club. I sent to the Football Federation for India. And I called the Football Federation and told them what I'm going through. Did they speak English? They gave me a chance for someone to understand me. They said they got to get back to me. And no one got back to me. And I was keeping sending email, sending email, and no one is in response to me. So I go through really hard times over there. Because as we were telling you, I have family to take care of. Playing football for three months without salary. That's a big loss for me, you know, which age I'm at, because I have kids to take care of. What were the fans? Did they enjoy your game? The fans, all right, yeah. To be honest, the fans loved me. The team itself respect me and loved me, you know. But the other part, the management, no, it's not the same. I think because he was scoring as well, everybody loves a player that can give them goals. Yeah, so me and them, when we meet, I'll go to have dinner and eat and talk on the table with the team, with the teammates, with all our teammates. And they told me that when I told them that I'm going to leave, they said, yeah, you have a right to leave because things is not going for you. Did you have other non-nationals in your Neroca team? All right. Players who weren't from India? Who's from India? Yeah, but I was of three, we'd have four outside players, like, yeah, from Syria. And I think, yeah, cheer them from Syria. One of them was the captain, David Simbal. But did they have similar experiences to you or were they getting paid? No, no one. Oh, so nobody, everybody playing for free? Yeah, everybody playing for free. Wow. Till the captain, we tell ourselves that this needs to stop. You understand? Yes. We'll go hard, we'll go hard as hard. And they're hard to deal with. They're hard to deal because they don't care or you try to explain your family issues. So you need your family to take care. You need money. They seem like they don't care. Yeah. And they're there with their family taking, enjoying themselves with their family. And we, outside, far from our family, because I have to take four planes to reach India. Right. How much was the cost of the ticket to India? The ticket is $300,000. What? Yeah. And you had to pay that. And $300,000 for going and they have to pay and $300,000 for the comeback. Yeah, how thankful are you that Anid Gardens and their management, you know, when you came back, they welcomed you with open arms because that's a big deal. It speaks also to what you contributed to the team and the relationship you have with them. Yeah. All right. Anid Gardens, when I come back, I explain the relationship that I go over in their face. So, Anid Gardens, since I come, Anid Gardens try to, the management staff try to give me, you know, a lot of things for a charity. Motivate my back because it was down because my last a lot. Because it's out of my pocket. It's come, you understand? So, a last a lot. Just that. So, just grateful for being back at home and just try to free my mind. With your family. With my family. Because it's hard to play football when you're away without focusing and your family is okay. And scoring on your first game back would certainly help in lifting your spirits. Yeah, that's to lift my spirits more and it's nice to be back in the jungle. And how about your new coach, Xavier Gilbert, because when you left, the coaching setup was different. Yeah, me and my coach have a look, have a understanding, you know, because as we say, it's not, we don't know. So, any coach come to Anid Gardens, they know me, you understand? The only thing me and them, they just need for us, can respond and get to know each other more, you understand? But me and them have a understanding there. Good. All right, Fabian Reed. Great to have you in the sports mic zone. It's not the first time that we have you live in the studio. First time in these studios. We've spoken to you live on the show before. Always a pleasure to have Fabian Reed in as we taught Jamaica Premier League football. So back from a very uncomfortable experience in India, but back in the red and black, Anid Gardens call us now and scoring immediately as Anid Gardens are taking aim on the playoffs and ultimately the championship. Back with more on the sports mic zone after this.