 All right, for the first time since 2001, under-19 urban area schoolboy football in Jamaica has a first-time champion. This has Mona High toppled Heidel High 1-0 in a tight encounter at the national stadium in Kingston last Friday. Damarian Harris got the winner in the 10th minute. The win is seen as the culmination of a project which began three seasons ago, in which time Mona showed constant improvement by reaching the quarter-final round, then the semi-finals, and now they are the champions. Well, the architect of their success is with us in studio, technical director Craig Butler. Good afternoon, Craig. It's a great day to chat with you. Congratulations. Thank you very much. How are you feeling? I mean, a lot of work has gone into this. Feel some vindication, but very, very happy. Very happy for the boys. Very happy for the school, and just hope that we can continue to grow. The work, though, Craig, I just told the viewers about the timeline to get to this success. I feel as if it was short because there are some teams that has been building for years and still hasn't gotten a title. So, the work. Well, you have teams that, for real, that have been playing Manning Cup for 20, 30, 40 years and never won. But the methodology, which is what I'm gearing towards, that utilizes our strengths as a nation. The speed, the tenacity. If you notice even the goal that was scored, it was four passes. Yes. Basically, one touch, one touch, two touches, one touch in the back of the net, and its movement off the ball, quick transition and finishing. So, it's really a good thing. It's good for Jamaica, and I think that we should continue. What does this mean for Mona now? Because the expectations have gotten bigger. Well, for Mona what it means is that we have to also learn a lot of things. Winning is not the only thing that's there. We have to be able to grow as a school and be able to handle winning. So, we're learning as we go, and it's not easy. There are a lot of things off the pitch that we have to fix and continue to grow with. Yeah, Craig Mariah outlined the incremental improvement of this team in the three-year project that you've been on, quarterfinals, then semifinals, then the championship, which does illustrate a stark representation of targets being met and finally delivering the goods. I thought many people felt that you may have won last year. You could have won last year. How disappointing was it that you didn't win last year, and how satisfying is it for you to celebrate this success this year? It was extremely disappointing. We felt undone by the referee, and it's funny and good enough that way. I spoke to the referee almost a year later, and he said, Craig, I look back at the tape, and I was wrong. And that's good enough for me. You know? You have accepted it. But then on match day, in the final, I bought the same referee. So I'm like, oh boy, we're done for now. But he's a FIFA referee, so. But he left a good game, and the good thing about it is the boys knowing what happened last year learned from it in such a way that they did not stop fighting and did not stop pressing. They made sure they won every single first time ball and played the game to win. And this, as I said, you know, is not what happens to a man is what a man does with what happens to him. And this is the key to success, I believe, in life. So I'm happy. Yeah. The second half was testing, and your team showed a lot of robust attitude in hanging on to the early lead that you got. What were your thoughts of Highdale as challengers for the title? I think they're good players, good players, good quality. But, you know, at this level, it's who wanted more and who's better prepared mentally. And I think our boys are much better prepared. I think what they did, what we did, we actually planned every step of the way. We said we'd score early. We attained that step one. We said we'd keep the ball for a period. We did that. And then we decided that we would park the bus. Because a lot of people believe from last year's play that Mona could only attack. Yeah. Yeah. So I said, all right, I'll show you, we can defend. I'm gonna defend the other wrong thing you tell me. I remember, I tell you, I did commentary on your playing days at JC with Manning Cup. Yeah. At RJR doing radio commentary. And the good thing about it is people are saying the team that was so attacking last year, it's only changed by three players. So it's the same team, basically. They were just young. They were 14, 15, 16. Now, the back line is 16, 17, but six foot massive Dante Peralta, no, it's huge, you know, and it is all of them. So it was really good. Or captain led the way in goal as well. And I think that the quality that these boys display and the methodology which we used, if incorporated into our national team, will go a lot farther than just imagine, if every four balls, Leon was getting a breakaway or whisper or or or or Nichols now on it was getting a breakaway every four to five touches. Instead of wasting about tick, tick, tick, tick, tick all the time. Pep Guardiola said it best. He said, Barcelona didn't play tick attacking football. That is aimless passing. It's passing with a purpose. And now I'm happy. Yeah, can I ask you quickly, though, because our commentary panel during the game were wondering. Middle of the second half, maybe the earlier part of the 60 minutes or so on, that maybe the they they assess that the parking of the bus may have been happening a little too early, inviting more pressure on yourself. No, you realize that we've got four goals, opportunities to score while parking the bus. We don't just park the bus and sit there, you know, it will park the bus and counter. So the minute that and it's not how the traditional methodologies where we're actually using one player to come out. Yes. The other way I go. So once the ball moves, the player it swivels going all the way across and their holes clogged. So but the minute we won the ball, it would be a direct defense splitting pass. And you'd have a strike on it. So can't a Romarian Thomas hit the post, you know, or other winger rebounding immediately. We had several chances to score after that. It's strategy. And then we went back to our normal play. So in other words, you say, come at me. I counter. And no, you're coming at me. No, I'll play football. I'll play drop behind you. So you know, it's all tactical. You know, and truth be told, a lot of love too. You know, a lot of love, a lot of heart. Yeah, I saw the heart from the players, especially when they won. It was as if they couldn't believe that this was happening. They worked for it. And it was finally happening. And I think Craig, it has to also be feeding off of your energy because they behave as if this the same morals and the same things that you say clearly, it has been entrenched in their brains because at the end of the match, just looking on at them, the pride, the joy, it's as if, you know, I did everything I had to do. And it's here. It's happening. Yeah. It's awesome. I think that the quality of morale of this team was the love. Yeah. And you know, we had to fight together. It wasn't easy. And you know, because of maybe my character or the way that I do things, you know, they come under immense pressure as well. Yes. You know, they don't get any favors. You know, if they're late one minute people, I mean, if they have an incident, you know, it's blown way all over the world immediately when everybody else has incidents, you know. And for me, I'm just grateful for the boys. You know, and it's what I love most more than anything else is my dream. I've seen uptown and uptown come together. It's been achieved in this team. You know, everybody loves one of their Jamaicans first. You know, they're fighting to be with each other, to play for each other, to play for the school. And it doesn't matter whether the school is Monar or whether the school is CML or whether they live in Narbrook or they live in Arnhit. It doesn't matter. Yes. It's one family. Yeah, for sure one family. I was there. You know, I had said on the show, it's no secret that I was supporting Monar High this season. Well, thankfully, I'm taking some of the credit because I give you all some luck. But Craig, I was disappointed because I came there to see you on the team, lift the trophy and there was no trophy celebration. So, I had to leave without seeing that. Yes, another unfortunate event. I think that, as I said, we're learning a lot. We've never won money a couple of four in the history of the school. And there was pandemonium. At the same time, we were being blamed a little bit for, you know, the spectators invaded the field. You cannot ask a school to be responsible for your security. Yeah. You know, that's one and two. I think that for sure the reality of the players, we didn't get a protocol as to what to do after you won. You know, what's going to happen? And then I was giving interviews by mandated by sponsors on the opposite end of the field. Right. So, the people, the person who's in charge of them and guiding them is away from them. So, you know, at the same time, I cannot condone bad behavior. So, we should do better. And we will do better. And we've learned from it. And the greatest thing in life is to learn and not repeat them saying mistake. You know, as I said with the referee, tell me, sorry, I'm good. We're friends now. You know, I carried the belly for a year, but we're friends now. So, you know, forgive us, please, and understand this useful exuberance. You know, I'm a young money cop. We have never won a money couple before. It took since 1984 till now. And I would like to say again, this is for my teammates at Jamaica College in that nineteen eighty fourteen, that pain that we felt for all those years. It's really painful. And to hide out, come again next year and let's battle again. You know, good work, good effort, good job coach. And you know, I know the pain that it feels to lose. You know, and give you all. And I just want to say, you know, keep your heads up and keep going. Mona, you still have a lot to learn. I will go ahead and learn it. Craig, I want to discuss something with you here because a lot of global football experts coming to Jamaica and seeing how flourishing our schoolboy program is would criticize the schoolboy football competition from the standpoint of from a developmental process that school football is not is not the answer. Now you spend many years not being involved with schoolboy football because your Phoenix Academy was developing teenagers in the way that I believe globally it is it is it is done. Our development is development. Yes, yes, that's how it is done. Talk to us about your players, the development that they would have gained from your project outside of the Mona aspect of it because the Mona team benefited from your system and philosophy philosophy for football because we have had, as I said, football experts here from Valencia and Seville, Seville, I think, they were discussing recruiting and developmental programs in the Caribbean and they were saying that there's too much emphasis on schools football. So just from that standpoint I want you to give a comment on the development of your players not only from the schoolboy football Mona project but the fact that you have these players on another platform developing as well. Well, when you look at Seville and all the other teams across Europe they're training nine to eleven months per year. Yes. Right and their development continues and it's more about developing the individuals talents, yeah, so that they have all the tools to be malleable when they're being coached so they can be tactical because they're competent technically. The way how schoolboy football works here is after three months they're done. After my three months, tomorrow I have eleven scouts coming from the US and four from, two from Belgium, two from Germany to come and continue watching the team, the players from Phoenix. So we're going to we continue training all year round and that's where the benefit comes to our players. When you look at the Mona players, yeah, some may genetically not be taller than others but when you look at their body, when you look at their kid, their abdominals, when you they're ripped, when you look at their technique, they can use both feet, they can play both positions. My central defender again is the leading gold scorer on the team because he's played strike on many times throughout the season and scored. So it's look at the goalkeeper how far he can kick the ball. You know these things come from continuous sustained development and that is what is missing from our country. It's missing because we also put the I would not have mind minded losing the Manning Cup if I knew the boys were doing the right thing when they were playing. If the ball was on the left foot and I shoot with the left and not take it off the left and put it on the right, I'd be happy if we lost because they would have done everything that they need to do for their future. And sometimes we tend to use the players as schools, yeah, want to win, get the championship and we put them to the side and look at what's left and if we can't find anything in there then we go and recruit rather than develop and this is where the problem is and this is where we have our players have been with me 90% of them, six years old, of your Mona players. Mona players, yes, six years old, yes, the Denzel Mackenzie, 11 years old, it is Robinia Gordon, 11 years old, you know, and if you look at the better players throughout the Manning Cup, Dylan John, the number seven from George's, he's from Phoenix, Xavier Taylor, the rest are from, no, Dylan John's from JC, yes, yeah, Xavier Taylor from George's, Phoenix, you know, the star striker for Casey, Damaria Daley, Angel, 17 goals, Phoenix. So what you're articulating here, Craig, is a confirmation that the development of teenagers for real high-level football doesn't reside in schoolboy football. Only. It should reside because that's where the best football is being played, the competition is best managed, right? What I would like to see more is longer training, not geared only at the competition, and maybe a longer competition if that's what you need. If you look at the Premier League, they're playing all year round, yeah? If you do a longer competition, but we're doing the boys of the service by using them for three months, winning a cup, leaving the trophy, and then saying, okay, see you guys later, that's foolishness, you know? You know, that's foolishness. I played and I learned from the best people in this country, you know? Dennis Zady, I see one of these students in there, Jimmy Sinclair, David Hunt, Matt Mendel, Winston Chongfa, yeah? I learned from those guys, so when I finished learning there, I went and looked at the best practices around the world, at the Mecca Football in Europe, from the biggest clubs, and that's why I incorporated it into my program. Lenny Hyde is a great player, and that's why his players, his students are so good, and they continue playing after, with whichever Premier League team that he's coaching, so they have sustained football, yeah? Most of the other teams, when it's done, they're gone out, and for me, I think that we need to have the national team, look at a particular method of play that you want to achieve, system, and then outline a system of development, provide the handbook, give it to all the teams, and so you must utilize this throughout the year, and then bring those players every weekend for two days a week at each different age level, and ensure that they're doing it. Send them back to their schools, our clubs, and make sure that they pass on whatever they learn. Simple, that is not rocket science, you know, that's what the rest of the successful world of football does. Yeah, you've been a constant critic of the Jamaica Football Federation's plan for developing football in the country, well, or lack thereof. Any thoughts from you on the upcoming GFF presidential elections? Hmm, you know, I once watched a movie Gladiator, and I tried to get him into politics, and he said a soldier has the benefit of being able to look his enemy in the eye, and for me, I try to steer it from the politics. We're doing really badly as a national organization, running the football. We're doing really badly. We're failing the national teams, we're failing the girls, miserably. It burned me for money showing our teammates, we're failing the boys, we're failing the youth mostly, and I like John Wall, and I like Hymer, and I think they really have good ideas and good plans, but whether they'll get support from the organization, I'm not sure. I'd like to see it improve, and I don't know, maybe this team that they're trying to put together will do a better job, but others have been in place for a long time. I wish I'd have seen more people who are capable, Chris Williams, other people stepping up, even the man in this room, friendly, stepping up and saying, listen, we want to leave a legacy for our country to become greater, yeah, people like that, but I mean, at this rate, anything other than what we have now must be better, because we're at the bottom. So if you are voting, you would vote for Anderson Steem? I've never voted, you know. I know you haven't, I'm just saying that if you had a vote, because part of the problem is that I don't have a vote. Part of the problem is that the people who are best able to help football and have the vision for football do not have a vote. The cronies have the votes, the friends of the people have the votes. We don't have any votes, and when we speak, we're told shut up. But you're a top coach, and there's a coaches association, and the coaches association has a vote, or at least one arm of the coaches association. Several years ago, I was banned by the JFF for taking them to court, and I was not allowed to take any of their coaching courses, and they don't recognize any of my coaching courses that I have from Europe. So they told me I'm not qualified to coach. You're not? No, no. Excuse me, I'm just curious. Who's the man in cup champion again? Mona. Okay. Who's their coach? Craig Butler. But who's the highest gold contributor in the Premier League? Again? What's his name? The English Premier League? Yes. You mean Bailey? Leon Bailey. Who coached him, developed him, marketed him, and sent him to all of these clubs. Is it me? Yes, I think so. I know people would like to think otherwise, but you heard of Dujeon, who's for Richard's at 11? Yeah. Who coached him from 11 years old to Chelsea, first team? C Butler. So maybe I should be teaching your courses. Maybe you should be coming to me and asking me what I learned overseas, instead of using whatever tools you have at your disposal to keep me out. Yeah. I want to help my country. And I hope by now you realize that I do have the capability. You don't have to like me. People don't like Marino. People never like Sir Alex. People never like Marcus Gavi. I'm nowhere near those guys' capability. But they've been successful. Exactly. They've made a positive change. I don't even think that they like Jesus. Well, many people didn't. You're right. Exactly. Yeah. But they exacted the change that was necessary for the benefit of our people. Well, Craig, it's always a pleasure when you join us on the Sports Mac Zone. Congrats again. Mariah, I love you, you know. Mona, you too. Mona Mattingby. All right. Say it again, say it again. Mona Mattingby. She has improved. She has actually said better. Yeah. No, you know, that motivated us so much that Mona, you would have no idea. Thank you. We really loved it and appreciate it. Say it again, Mariah. Listen, do you think I'm like this little toy that I can repeat? No, no, no. But Craig wants to hear you say it again. Mona Mattingby. Yeah. All right. You just heard from the technical director of Mona High School. They are the Manning Cup champions. And of course, Craig, we'll be chatting with you again soon. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Craig Butler there. Let's take a break.