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Stanford Chiwanga
AMINI Soma-Phiri is not the type of man whose persona commands respect from the first go. His dress style doesn’t do him any favours.
It is not football-like to say the least and it could provoke quiet and whispers from the moment he enters a room. But one thing you cannot turn into a joke is his football coaching.
The guy is brilliant and he proved that in the shortest time he spent at Highlanders this season.
But the Bosso executive disagrees.
In their minds, Amini was nothing but a stop-gap measure, a man tasked with arresting the slide, nothing more. And they have not changed their minds despite the fact that he surprised all by turning Highlanders into a mean machine.
The problem with the Peter Dube-led executive is that it is accustomed to being right, in their own minds at least. Its major achievement, winning the Mbada Diamond Cup with Kelvin Kaindu and now the EasyCall Cup with Aminii — has been used as a stick to beat critics.
Yet such meagre successes for a club of Highlanders’ status are not good enough. The decision to do away with Kaindu and replace him with Bongani Mafu backfired. And we thought they had learnt their lesson when they fired him, but it was a precursor of things to come.
Making Amini the acting coach after firing Mafu was greeted with disapproval, but now Amini has done well and fans love him. But the club, which never misses a chance to shoot itself on the foot, is not convinced. They want him out. A little known Dutchman, who at one time had 57 friends on Facebook, is the club’s chosen one.
The little said about the foreign coach, who is known for developmental work in the Netherlands, the better.
What can be said is that the club has shown that it has leaders who lack vision. It is no secret that
Highlanders are broke and are in a quagmire of debts — it is thus mind boggling that they have decided to hand the keys to Barbourfields Stadium to an expensive tourist.
Most people have called this decision stupid. Indeed it is, but it is also a brave one. A club of Highlanders’ standing should choose a proven coach and Amini has proved himself.
It is impossible to tell which way Amini’s tenure could have gone and what legacy he could have created had he been given the job. But there is a possibility that he could have done a Callisto Pasuwa.
Pasuwa was made Dynamos caretaker coach after Lloyd Mutasa was fired mid-season in 2011 amid disapproval from many in the DeMbare.
“Madzibaba” Pasuwa went on to win four league titles and an array of trophies with Dynamos.
Amini had the ability to do the same at Highlanders. It’s a pity we have been denied an opportunity to witness his greatness.
Amini was not going to be another gamble on Highlanders’ part. Amini lives by a simple mantra — to be the best. He possesses an inner steel Kaindu and Mafu didn’t have.
It is that inner steel that made Aminii reintroduce Highlanders’ attacking style of football. Under Mafu the team lacked
conviction and the Highlanders family, even though it didn’t admit it at the time, had deep misgivings about his coaching style, which was a clear deviation from the relentless attacking principles that were once enshrined at BF.
During his short stint in charge, Amini made an impact and revived some of the spirit that was once the hallmark of the great Highlanders sides of the past.
There is a reason the Highlanders executive is sticking to its guns. Amini was brought in to steady the ship and could leave at the end of his contract, a foreign coach could take over. No questions asked.
It is no longer that simple and questions are being asked. The succession plan that was once accepted by the Highlanders family has now divided the family.
A foreign coach might bring back the glory days Highlanders crave for. His reign might be a disaster. There is no telling what will happen. The same can be said about Amini.
The truth is that only the gods of football know what will happen.
We don’t need to go a long way back in history to prove that a new coach brings about unpredictability. Kaindu and Mafu are substantiation that nothing is certain in football.
There is no doubt that Amini is a risk, but unlike a foreign coach, he is a risk worth taking.
derick.khumalo