 Yeah, so we're back on the Sportsmax zone and we're talking to Craig Butler of Phoenix All-Stars the founder of Phoenix All-Stars Football Academy here in Jamaica that has produced the likes of Leon Bailey and the most recently Dejeune Whisper Richards And you were Craig just outlining to us just now the hierarchy with regard to this your cell visa club in Belgium And the connection Phoenix All-Star has with it Phoenix All-Stars has 50% of the shares Yes, the club I work for Phoenix Sports Management The owner, the majority chair of Phoenix All-Stars, is Casey Butler And Shelly McFarlane is the co-president of How difficult was it to strike up this partnership because it sounds significant that someone from the Caribbean Could make such an imprint in the Belgian football landscape? Well, it's been years that we've been building our name, building respect A lot of people, they've always said people in your own home Don't respect you as much as people in foreign lands In Phoenix what we've achieved You know people ask for autographs, we cannot walk on the streets in Europe But people ask for autographs It's a lot of respect And sometimes standing to your principles is the most important thing And the opportunity came And we could not refuse that opportunity because it now opens up our ability to play in Belgium Against the Belgian teams And if we perform against them We're actually playing against in the Croquet Cup which is the FA We played against Lommel I'm not just a city player so I play So we're probably not that we could beat them And ironically we drew Genk in the next room Which is my home town So we're playing against KRC Genk with Dimitri Dekande who's our very close friend A lot of it would come later, it would take some time But it came within three months Just imagine if we performed against KRC Genk And even one It would also be like floodgates You used the term just now and you said the opportunity came Could you talk to us a little bit more about how that actually happened Because by just basic English it sounds as if you were given You were afforded an opportunity to do something As opposed to you fighting fighting fighting to get the deal worked on What has happened for years now And we're able to get games against KRC Genk Ajax, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Chelsea The biggest clubs in Europe It meant that we gained a lot of respect Because you don't get that that easily You don't get that that easily And as a result clubs came to us Clubs came to us and said listen We'd like to partner with you To know how you do what you do I remember when the Qatari were trying to get whisper And they didn't They came back to me and said listen How much for your academy We'll buy your academy And money is not an option I said to them Not all things are for sale You know And so we are Because they wanted to find out how I remember the guy saying it But we have not been able to produce What you have produced And you have basically nothing And you are producing world class players So come over to us And I said no So when these clubs in Belgium started to see That we could actually bring great talent Bring great structure and learning Vise has 1500 kids in their academy That is a huge resource center For building And so if we have Relationships with Vise We have relationships in Portugal In Spain, at Ajax At Gank And we are building here We have a European academy Running in Jamaica That's exactly what we are doing So our philosophy is the training Our boys get up at 6 am And I train till 8 Then they go to school They come back after school They train till 6 All that they miss in the morning They do it after school And they come at 3.30 Just like the pros do And we do that 6-7 days a week And you end up developing that mentality With the raw materials that are great Sounds fascinating Craig We are going to go to a break On the Sportsmax zone We will pick up this conversation Stay with us Back on the Sportsmax zone We are speaking with Craig Butler Founder of Phoenix All-Stars Football Academy And of course Phoenix All-Stars Doing great things Getting quality players into Europe As professionals And now part of Involved in a partnership With the URSL Visa And Craig, I understand that There are a number of players From Jamaica That have already been signed To this club in Belgium More top players The graduates Mario Simms We have Saka Clément Wilson Who was at Jamaica College last season Michael Graham He's been with Phoenix since he was 8 Then we have Richie Little Richie from Clarence College Marcus Reed We have Don Hugh Mitchell Who was the second leading gold square In Manicope last year from Central Defense Damoy Whitfield Or Midfielder Zander Bicknell And Shaba Shaman Phillips from St. Vincent And Jade Clark Who has been with us since he was 5 years old, 6 years old So we have A very solid component And the assistant coach Is none other than Former Bridgeport Manicope winner Ricardo Marti Blacks So we're not just Players, we're building coaches And we're giving them the opportunities To learn, develop in Europe And come back And give back to our country Since the Chelsea signing of Dejeon Whisper Richards Has there been Greater interest in Phoenix All-Stars Academy Locally From let's say Players and parents who Want to be part of your organization Has that happened Or has it remained steady Yes a lot of people have wanted To come on board but unfortunately That's not what Phoenix is about We're about building long term Relationships of the 10 players That are now in Europe 8 of them have been with us Since they were pre-teens So we want to Continue to develop them Properly, not just get people Who want to come in for an opportunity Because the worst thing you can have Is send a player over And then they mess up You're only as good As a last player Talking about development It's a Manicope Schoolboy football competition Which is often full swing Your Monahai team Also often A pretty good start A few years ago You have spoken about development But there are many individuals Still waiting for Craig Butler And Monahai to win this competition Is this going to be the year Mr. Butler Well for sure If people don't make an effort To sabotage us Why would you say that Craig? Manicope semifinal last year Why would you say sabotage? Because in Manicope semifinal last year We had a head injury To our central defender With blood spilling from his nose The ref didn't stop the game And JC scored That's how we walked out of the Manicope And you see the player On the ground You see the blood on the player And everybody brushes it under a rug Hopefully This year We will be able to have a fear I'm trying to be a nice guy So that they don't use me To hurt the boys, you know But honestly How difficult is that though Craig? Being a nice guy? If you know me I ball for everything I care a lot about the people I love Hold on Craig You crying does not make You a nice guy No man And he's not talking about a footballer No listen If you want to succeed in life You have to be tough I learned that from Doug LaSalsa Dougie when I used to work for him I said Dougie why everybody hits you You said Craig understand it It's lonely at the top When you get to the top You have to fight to stay there And no one wants you there But in truth and fact Whether you want to admit it or not Whether it's that We're at the top of Jamaican and Caribbean football Phoenix People are lucky to produce One world class player in an academy Lucky We're produced We can go on and on But the fact of it is Is that I love the fact that one has evolved And we keep evolving our system And getting better and better We have young players coming up And we are moving out the older ones Getting them opportunities And the younger ones are coming in And learning so that's why I'm one of the people that say listen Don't be our organist Stay loyal to where you're coming from Don't take away The work that a coach has put into you Just because you want the opportunity With me Be loyal And that's where we're at So disqualified from the Walker Cup Well not 2021 it would have been early 2022 Then in the Manning Cup semifinals Last year Back end of 2022 Last year's team The back end of 2022 team In my opinion Significantly better Than the team that played the previous season In schoolboy football How much better is your team This time around Well as I said to you in the break We have 6 foot 2 6 foot 3 defenders That are able to manage Of all We have lost only 3 players From last year Our goalkeeper has grown And gotten slimmer And is even better now The attacking team With Papa Kishen God Denzel Mackenzie is the best number 10 In the country In any age group Any age group Ayaks already wants him I can take off my phone and show you How much for the number 10 Hit the post 3 times against Ayaks So he's better than every Premier League player in Jamaica Absolutely Every Premier League number 10 Is better than every single one You've seen him Ricardo His legs are huge now He looks like a big man His vision His passing ability with both feet His shooting abilities, free kicks His brain When you have Ayaks Saying to you How much for the number 10 And I said to him listen he was just 16 He won't be 17 till November So you have to wait the whole year And I said boy I could just bring him And send him back until we're ready for him Not just Ayaks Sheffield, Brentford Chelsea He is the next great thing coming out of Phoenix and coming out of Jamaica And I guess we'll get An opportunity this cool boy football season To see exactly What he's made of and exactly what Craig is talking about in terms of the quality I did see him last season Lance I don't recall thinking having seen him Last season that he is the best number 10 In the country but this is a year on And players can improve Significantly over the Course of a year If you think about it Not many Individuals knew about Dejean Richards Until close to the beginning Of last season I think Many individuals started seeing the signs In pre-season And by the time the Manning Cup Has started it was all about Whisper so we look forward To see what Mackenzie has to offer This cool boy football season So essentially Craig If I am to get you correct You are saying you have a team This time around that is Ready to win the Manning Cup Absolutely You know the great thing about this team I remember I was Watching the Wolmans game Couple nights ago I'm obsessive so And I saw we had five Players on the bench Now we have registered 30 players Our bench is so deep We can change our players Because what happened is the little ones Have grown up in the system They have gotten bigger like even Theo You saw a boy last year He is now a man And Sean Layton started At 12 playing Manning Cup He is now 6'3 That's a lot of growth And he is only 15 now So he still has Another four years left Because he is born in September I noticed that you have At least one change To your coaching staff We know that you are the engine Of this Mona setup But I noticed that Your assistant coach from last season Is now an assistant In Jamaica College Actually I was not very happy During the semifinals The game against St George's quarterfinals When I was On a red card in the stands And they asked him How you feel about the game Coming up he says Well I don't really want to play Jamaica College And if you are a part of my team You don't speak that way About my players My players If the coach doesn't believe in the team Then please go to the team That you believe in Because we only want believers here And so I let him go And then he went to JC Wish him all the best But that photocopy is never as good as the original What was his reaction To being let go though Because he has been with the program He has been your trusted soldier I suppose Yes he has been with the program But as I said there were issues That we never had it up front To me loyalty Is everything Everything And loyalty goes both ways I will My boys know I will go to Hell and back for them And so they will give me They will go to Hell and back for me On that pitch I just think I was missing I could bring Dan Peralta Dan is a A former top footballer He loves the game He has a Bested interest because Dante is his son And he has been around us Since Dante was six He is part of the program I have always tried to build As a coach The guy who is my assistant Just in case anything happened to me But then I am sure That Mona And Phoenix are in good hands Yeah Craig like you I am trying to be a good guy I don't like to Be referred to As not so nice And so I almost feel Badly putting you in this position But I probably won't get paid At the end of the month If I don't ask you this question A lot of criticism For top players Leon Bailey In the national set up And definitely out of the Conker Kaif Nations League matches That he doesn't seem to play his best When he is playing For the national team He doesn't seem to produce at the level That many expect him to Well the question I want to ask you Is how deep is your knowledge of football I say I have a pretty good Understanding I want you to answer the question This is not for me to answer I want to hear from you Couple things With Conker Kaif International Bricks You play an average of about 20 days You get off for 30 days Out of the year To train together All the players are coming From different clubs With different systems Which they play for Operating I think Jaime Has done an impeccable job In putting Recruiting And putting great players together The problem is Is that If you don't have a system of development Like all the other clubs Belgium has a system of development They have the youth training From 15 Every weekend Understanding the system That they require to play When they come pros and go to different countries And they are called back to the national team They remember the system that they play When Leon is training 10 months out of the year With Aston Villa He knows exactly where to be When there goes to the line He has the time to actually control the ball Drink a cup of coffee And kick it in the goal Jamaica Has super talented players But Heimer is now trying to put a system In place With 20 days out of the year to train To operate Leon has been asked to play a role That he doesn't play Aston Villa He's been asked to be the leader And the organizer And the fixer on the team If you watch Leon play Explain leader organizer and fixer Because they seem like very general terms Whisper was playing Striker He was having a difficult time Leon was out on the right wing Put him out on the right wing where he's comfortable Go do the work as a striker And show him He's talking to him constantly He's talking to Demerai constantly He brought Demerai to the national team Don't ever forget that He brought him in, it's his friend Leon is a catalyst That's not a familiar position And if you look at how The team plays They play better With Leon in that position But it's not his position So let me ask you this Are you there for saying Give him a time I have a question to ask you How does Leon and Whisper look to you I'm going to give you a show For yourself because you seem to like Asking questions We can Does Whisper and Leon Look good together Here's what I want to know Craig Are you saying That we need to give Leon Bailey More time to produce At the level that The country expects Of the talent that he is Of course, but I also believe That those two games He played well Very well, I don't think He played badly I think he made others look good I was able to dribble With time and score, you know why Two people were following Leon You said something very important just now Praising Heimer Halgrimson The coach for the job he's doing I heard him And I've heard his assistant as well Speak of working on a Philosophy for Jamaican football Pretty much mirroring what you just Mentioned about getting Young players to understand the system That they want to play Are you confident that these Coaches, the current coaching staff Can inculcate that With the help of the JFF Because they're reporting To a football federation That they can get this done And how quickly they may be Because this is a long term project isn't it One of the things that I can tell you Is that he has had John Wall Working with under 20s And brought in eight of my players Including Denzel I heard John Wall talking And he's preparing them He's showing them what he wants He's showing them the system he wants to play So that, think about it Theo in two years time Is 2026 right? And he will be how old? 18 years old He's developing his team And he's making them Understanding what he wants Professionals Playing different systems And asking them with two Three days training To look like a well oil machine So it's not going to work So are you saying Craig that you are getting more Buying now from the national coaching staff Than you had previously Because you're saying John Wall Now has eight of your players Into his under 20s setup And I remember you in the past Complaining that national coaches Are your players into the under 17 And under 20 programs Absolutely, because I disagreed with what you said earlier That Whisper was only on the radar Shortly before Manico No, I said to the general public Okay, because I was screaming Not speaking to those on the inside I was screaming about Whisper For eight months before Saying you should never have left him Under 20 years And all the other national coaches The chairman of the technical committee Was saying he's no good Yeah But the coach Heimer Haagribson knows That he will be judged Based off his results If he gets wins And if he takes us to a world cup The JFF no matter what they want They can't fire him But if he bows And puts in the players that People want Then he will lose anyway So he's having gonads He's going out there He's selecting the best players I remember They had told me Coach came to my house In England That's the type of coach you want Yeah As usual, it's always a pleasure Thank you very much for joining us On the sports mic zone today We stayed with you for the entire show Completely out of time But CPL is coming up The playoffs in another five minutes or so The Jamaican Talos will take on The St. Lucia Kings And it's live on this channel So there is no need to switch It's an eliminator So Lucia goes home Winner continues in the competition Bye bye