adminSikhumbuzo Moyo
FOR the past three weeks, Bulawayo giants Highlanders have been holding weekly press conferences to appraise their supporters through the media of the goings on at the club.This, the club claims, is to avoid distortions and wrong information being circulated when journalists interview the coaches idividually.
In their wisdom or lack of it, the club thinks this order of things will work. They believe that by so doing they are controlling the media and dishing out what must be heard and leaving out what must not be heard.
The club leadership wants to behave like a thief who when planning to rob a bank, only thinks of positive things that he or she would do once he gets his hands on the money. Buy a car, buy a house, treat my girlfriend in the best bars in town etc. The poor chap fail, just for a moment, to imagine what would happen in the event that he is busted while executing the crime; is arrested, arraigned before the courts and receives to a very long prison sentence etc.
The same applies to Highlanders, all they look forward to are the so called or imagined good things that come with having a press conference; all the media houses would be in attendance and on the following day, all the papers carry the same story and all the radio and television stations air the same bulletins. They would then boast, “we have them.”
It has not occurred to them that they are denying their supporters the right to know more about their team’s preparations ahead of a match and by so doing get psyched up to go to Barbourfields Stadium and cheer the team on. It is a fact that regular updates about the team create excitement among fans. A fan needs to know that his favourite player is fit and available for selection.
A fan needs to know the recovery progress of his favourite player but when he has to wait for a press conference to hear that, it becomes a different ball game altogether. A well marketed game is seen by the number of people at the match. On a usual day, the Tsholotsho match would not have attracted such a crowd but because of the vigorous marketing prior to that match, more than 8,000 fans witnessed the game. Yes, their victory over Harare City played a part too.
During this week’s press conference, those who took time to attend were informed that five players were nursing injuries and would have to pass late fitness tests. Obadiah Tarumbwa, Nqobizitha Masuku, Erick Mudzingwa, Simon Munawa and Teenage Hadede were said to be in the casualty ward. Naturally follow ups would have been made yesterday to find out if the five players are part of Bongani Mafu’s squad that takes on Chicken Inn this afternoon but alas, the media has to wait for next Thursday to be appraised!
This is Highlanders for goodness sake, not a little institution! Whoever thought of this press conference idea must revisit his notes, it’s just not working. What would happen say, if the match is on Wednesday?
Those professional clubs that you see holding press conferences are not doing it the way it is done at Number 50 Robert Mugabe Way. To keep their fans and indeed sponsors abreast with what is happening, those clubs have these presses almost on a daily basis where they send different personnel from captain, senior player, assistant coach and head coach while also allowing their technical staff to have impromptu interviews with the media. Sponsors want mileage and by gagging Bongani Mafu and crew, is Highlanders saying the BancABC product will only be spoken about once a week?
Once again, this isn’t and will not work!
This is a blunder of unimaginable proportions by the Highlanders leadership, probably rivalled by the decision to hike gate charges for the league match against Caps United. It never occurred to whoever thought of this “brilliant” idea that schools had just opened and the match was live on satellite channel Supersport. Sometimes arrogance never works.
Just like the decision to take the club to its owners by increasing membership fees to $50 for ordinary and $150 for life members when the cards were not being taken up for a lesser fee.
If this continues, very soon, we will be told to bring written questions in advance so that the coach or whoever, would do first research.
What would the club leadership do if media houses boycotted the press conferences? Would it be good for football? How would the sponsors feel?
Such ill advised decisions are usually taken by people with something to hide, people who feel that if they don’t have a strong grip on what comes out, things might go haywire.
Finally, could someone please tell me that it’s not true that Amahlolanyama have resorted to hiring a school bus for their away matches, after shockingly snubbing a freebie from Nyaradzo Funeral Services.
I rest my case!
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Bongani Ndlovu