SW Online Exclusive Interview with Lincoln Phillips
SW: Are you going with the T&T team to Panama?
LP: Yes, I will be going to Panama. I will leave Trinidad the day before the game and return the day after. I have missed the Costa Rica game and few others due to the volume of work (clinics/seminars/appearances) involving the player and coaching development program.
SW: Do you actually take part with the team in training?
LP: Yes I do, when my schedule allows it. Most times, however, when I am at practice, I attend as an observer. Leo has three assistants and a goalkeeping coach and really does not need an additional coach. My relationship with Leo is quite good (he has an open door policy) and the doors are always open to me to take part in training sessions.
SW: By now we should have a basic idea of the strength and weakness of all six of our opponents. Do you think T&T can pull off a win in Panama, if yes, what precautions do you think we need to take?
LP: We are very much aware of the strength and weaknesses of our opponents. All the teams were carefully scouted even our possible opponent in the Middle East.
I am confident that, if we play well and take our chances, we will beat Panama ....and Mexico. If we were going to play Brazil, Italy, Argentina, I would have serious doubts about our chances of winning. But the 5 opponents in this last round are not in the class of the teams mentioned above. In addition, Panama is out of the running and Mexico has already qualified. I see no reason why they should be mentally fired up to play their best game ever. For T&T, the game means everything, so we should be fired up. We must be careful not to concede any early goals Panama usually takes a while to settle down. We should capitalize on this and get on the scoreboard as quickly as possible.
Defensively, we must pressure Panama early in their defensive third and never, never, allow them to play in the midfield. If we apply this defensive strategy well, our defenders not be under intense pressure as they have been in in the past few games. Good defending is not only the job of the defenders but all the players on the team....the first line of defense starts with the forwards. When the ball is in our defensive third, our defenders must never, ever be left alone in one vs one situations. We must always double team the ball while providing additional cover near the ball. We are a bit vulnerable on free kicks...the players need to listen to Jack and respond faster to his instructions on all dead ball situations.
SW: Who does the analysis of our opponents?
LP: The three assistant coaches, Wim Rijsbergen, Theo De Jong and David Nakhid, are responsible for the scouting. They have scouted all the teams in this round on numerous occasions. One assistant will be scouting the possible Middle East opponent in a few days in preparation for the fourth place play-off game. In addition Flex Mohammed/Sam have provided me with outstanding game analyses and very accurate scouting reports. I have also read other very accurate and thought provoking reports on the Soca Warriors web site. I usually go through them carefully and decide what information should be passed on to the technical staff. For this I thank you all very much for your very useful and informative submissions.
SW: What’s the schedule like for the next 20 days?
LP: Between September 25 thru October 2, no practice sessions were held for the local players. The pro schedule was so tight that the clubs were unable to release their players. The team will meet in Miami Monday 3, October and travel to Panama, a full 5 days before the game.
After the game on the 8th, they will travel to T&T (9th) with only two days to prepare for the Mexico game on October 12. On the October 13, we hope to be celebrating our win against Mexico.....must stay positive!
SW: As the Technical Director do you have full access/control of all T&T teams, if yes, give as a description of your job concerning the T&T teams.
LP: My role in the World Cup team is advisory...for the time being. My role on all the other national teams is of a supervisory nature. I select the Technical and Support Staff for all teams with the support and guidance of the Technical Committee. Each nomination is then presented to the T&TFF Executive Committee for final approval.
* I also work with the Technical staffs with screening/player identification as well as setting up their respective training programs. The head coaches are usually given autonomy in conducting their programs while I provide support whenever necessary.
* I work with the coaches in planning and preparation for tournaments (number of training sessions, cost and location). The managers of each team usually handle the bulk of this work but if they run into any snags (ie. permission letters for staff members, letters requesting practice locations etc) I am there to help them.
* Playing style/philosophy- Based on the performance of all our national teams we must now agree upon a playing style (method of defending/attacking) that is most suitable for our level of skill. For example, in defense, should we play a more physical game pressing all over the field or should we fall back and consolidate in our half of the field or both? Offensively, should we build from the back through the thirds(this is only feasible when you have skillful defenders/midfielders), go over the top or counter attack?
SW: Two weeks back on the SW Online, a member (Bally) posted a poll rating yourself and most if not all of the other members voted good on your behalf, while others like (dcs) were asking such questions as:
a) I believe the Ministry gave Mr. Phillips (the TTFF) $13 million to work with for youth development. But that was announced long time ago and I haven't heard anything of it since.
LP: The Ministry approved $ 18 million dollars. Initially, the proposal to run the program annually was $ 29 million dollars. The remaining $ 11 million dollars will hopefully come from the T&TFF, corporate sponsorship, fundraisers or all of the above. Approval of money does not always mean that all the money is available immediately. The newly formed SCOTT program is still in its embryonic stage and areas of resource management and disbursement of funds are still being fine-tuned. During this transitional period, however, some finances have been released to the T&TFF underwriting the following projects:
1. Tours/tournaments
* The Women's tour to Indiana. This included round trip airfare for players and staff from T&T. Several players based in the US received their round tip airfare from destinations within the US to Indiana. The Women's U-19 CAC qualifying games in St. Lucia.
* Uniforms were purchased for the two teams.
* The Under 15 Boys CAC tournament held in T&T.
2. Licensed Coaching Courses.
The Technical Department has certified over 160 "D" license coaches throughout country. The following regions so far have received the "D" license courses courtesy T&TFF/SCOTT (free of charge): North Region; South Region; East region; and, Central Region. Three more "D" license courses will be offered in the Eastern Counties Region (that is Toco, Sangre Grande and Mayaro), north Region and Tobago. These courses will bring the tally of Certified "D" license coaches up to 250. This will be a historical land mark.. which can only be possible by funding from the Ministry of Sport and a T&TFF. In addition to these coaching courses, T&TFF has already conducted several player development clinics for youths of different age groups:
* April 2004-North Region-for all ages at King George V Park....406 participants took part.
* June 25, 2005- In North Region- for youths 8-10 years of age at King George V Park...420 participants.
* June 26, 2005- In the South Region-for youths 8-10 years of age at Guaracara Park.
* Oct. 1, 2005 - Maracas Valley-for all ages...165 participants.
* Oct. 2, 2005- Sangre Grande-for all ages....65 participants.
November (TBA) - Tobago- for all ages...250 participants expected over $ 20,000 have been spent on equipment for these clinics (balls, signs, coaches stipends and t-shirts....the kids get to keep the t-shirts). Objective of the clinics - Player Development and Identification of talented players.
3. Travel Teams (Practice/Tournaments)
T&T currently has 5 male Programs: a senior team; U-23; U-20; U-17; and a newly formed U-15. Very soon we will form an U-13 National team. The Ladies have one senior team;U-19; U-17 (still screening for players). We are currently looking at developing a new U-15 and a U-13 national team for the ladies. When all the monies are available from the Government, we will have all the national teams training year round. This is very costly project but which can only be accomplished with adequate financial help.
b) Doing all your work behind the scenes is a double edged sword. On one hand you can get things done without too much interference such as unwanted "advice" ....but at the same time nobody knows what’s going on and assume nothing is, which is bad....especially for the Ministry as they would want their props for investing the money.
LP: I hear you, but I am not working behind the scenes. The members of my department (Anton Corneal, Isa Mohammed, Ken Eli) and I are working very hard to take the game to the communities but our best efforts are dwarfed by the World Cup Campaign (and rightly so). We have to place all the energy into our senior team...
c) Once in a while you should write a comprehensive article for the Newspapers/SW Online....not necessarily focused solely on the youth development but on anything.... and make sure you squeeze in the details of where the money is going....keep slipping it in here and there so the public gets a sense of what going on.
LP: I totally agree with you. I will start immediately!
d) Seems like all we do is try to develop coaches, but what about programs for the youngsters. Or improving the Youth Leagues and Pro Leagues. While community teams sucks up all the support and Pro-League teams suffers in the process, shouldn't we try to "not" have to many teams or should I say Leagues.
LP: This statement is not accurate. While we have offered several coaching licenses, we also have conducted several player development clinics throughout the country.
e) Is Tobago in a different League and do we send scouts to search for talented players who fall on the way side time after time. Two recent ones would be Devon Leacock and Keon Daniel both who showed so much potential. What are we doing to keep these players in check. Tobago United seems to be doing there own thing conceding over 300 goals since their existent not to mention claiming the wooden spoon every year in the process. Shouldn't the TTFF intervene and make sure that they are helping by having an effective program to help develop players in the sister isle. Maybe we should think about relegation and promotion of teams in the Super League to Pro-League so the Pro-League will become much more competitive.
LP: As the Technical Director, I have made it a point to service all regional associations throughout T&T. That includes the North, East, South, Central, Tobago and Eastern Counties (Toco -Mayaro). As of today we have conducted two seminars in Tobago. Our scouts have identified more players from Tobago than in the past. Even on our women's national teams we are identifying talented players from Tobago.
SW: Normally we wait till the last minute to prepare teams for important qualifying games while countries who’s similar to T&T such as Bermuda and Jamaica are making strides in having youth teams in constant preparations, do we have any youth teams in training and, playing games on a regular basis?
LP: This is easier said than done. It takes in the vicinity of one million dollars to run one national team for the year. We have 7-9 national teams...so do the math. It is a well known fact that the countries which spend a lot of money in the development of their players year round usually see a drastic improvement in their national teams performances. These countries also spend a lot of money on facilities where their Elite athletes can reside for years while they develop their skill.
The US has a facility called Bradenton in Florida. All the talented youth (14-17) players stay there for at least three years receiving great training, nutritious meals, proper sleep, great facilities, proper medical attention, education. France also has such a facility, so does Cuba and most recently Panama. I am sure you have followed their progress. In the past 18 months, T&T has made several strides towards improving the level of play in the country. They are as follows:
* Making the decision to hire a Technical Director whose main responsibility is coaching/player development.
* Developing National Youth teams in the younger age groups (U-15 & U13).
* Creating an U-15 CAC tournament in order to expose our youth players to international competition at an early age.
* Successfully petitioning government to fund youth development programs.
* Introducing a year round training program for national teams.
SW: At one time we spoke briefly of having 3 coaches every quarter of a year come together for a 2 week period and look at players in different parts of the world. One in North America, the other Trinidad and Tobago and one in the United Kingdom in search of new or forgotten talent. Players can come together and train, then once every six months or so each division play against each other and then eventually picking the best possible eleven to represent T&T. Any chance of this becoming a reality?
LP: Yes, there is a great chance of this becoming a reality. I say so because of the Soca Warriors web site. You guys have been a great support to me with all the accurate game analyses, scouting reports and player identification. I want to officially invite the Soca Warriors web site to assist me in identifying any youth or adult player eligible to play for T&T from ages 10-adult. I am convinced that T&T can improve the level of play on the national teams by investing in the wealth of talented players in the US, Britain and Canada.
So Flex, let us put our heads together and decide what method we will use to recruit these foreign-based players. I will like to get some feedback on this idea. I have already created a web site called "Soccereval.com". Check out the web page and when it comes up, click "super user". The password is "tnt" and User name "tnt". A page will appear with all the national teams (I have not fully utilize this web page because I have so much to get off the ground).
There is also a web page with for the identification of players according to the 4 regions in the US. You can go through the same procedure as above with the exception of the password and user name. The User name is "tntusa" and the password -"tntusa. A page will come up with USA Region 1-4 (Main to Virginia; North Carolina to Florida; Mid West; West Coast). That Regional web page is designed for you to identify all eligible players from all 4 regions in the USA. Of course this is not limited to the USA only. Please tap your resources and get back to me on this project with some suggestions. This also applies to coaches, medical trainers, sports psychologists and other disciplines who want to offer their services to the development of T&T football.
SW: Any chance of us having a Trinidad B Team (Feeder Eleven) participate in the 2006 Pro-League?
LP: I think that this is a great idea. I am pushing for it. I believe that we must have a locally based national team in training all year round competing in local and international tournaments. This will make a very competitive situation with the foreign based professionals. This competitive environment will only serve to produce more competitive national teams.
SW: What's the limitation of foreign players in the Pro-League, do you think foreign players can help raise the level in the league?
LP: I believe there was a limit on foreign players last year, (do not quote me on that) but not this year. Yes, I believe that "good"foreign players will improve the league... just look what is happening in England. But only top of the line players. We do not want to have mediocre foreign players plying their trade in T&T. This will just take up a slot for one of our developing players. As the league develops, we can then limit the numbers to only 4-6 foreign-based players.
SW: What’s the latest with Derek Phillips, as I understand he’s no longer with Shamrock Rovers?
LP: Derek is back in the United States. Shamrock Rovers ran into some financial trouble and could not meet the payroll for all their players. He is staying in good shape where he plans to return to Germany when the transfer window opens up in December.
Note: On behalf of the Soca Warriors Online I just what to say Thank You to Mr. Lincoln Phillips for taking the time to do this interview for us.