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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
DID the Premier Soccer League have a ghost coach this season?
And, if so, why was this “ghost” coach allowed to deceive the media, opponents, fans and even the sponsors throughout the campaign without any intervention by the authorities given the sensitivity of this case?
Some are calling him the Miracle Man.
And, for a good reason, too.
After all, he is the man who humbled champions FC Platinum in their backyard and swung the blow that knocked Chicken Inn out of the championship race.
And, in the game of the season, masterminded the six-goal thriller against CAPS United which ended in a 3-3 draw.
His magical footprints are there for everyone to see in this riveting 2019 Castle Lager Premiership race between the champions and a Green Machine desperate to celebrate the 40th anniversary, of their first league title in 1979, with another success story this season.
His men’s 1-0 victory at Mandava was probably the shock result of the season, their 3-1 win over the Gamecocks was arguably the most decisive result of the campaign — in terms of the championship race — while their 3-3 draw against the Green Machine was certainly the thriller of the year.
They call themselves Ninjas, they are officially registered in the Premiership as Bulawayo Chiefs, and — despite operating on a shoe-string budget — it’s probable they could, for the second straight season, survive the chop.
If that happens, it could be a bigger story, and achievement, than either CAPS United or FC Platinum being crowned champions but, the Miracle Man who has been waving all that magic, unheralded coach Thulani Sibanda, might not even be rewarded for his heroics.
Instead, the 2019 Coach of the Year award could go to Darlington Dodo, for completing the marathon first started by Lloyd Chitembwe, or even Lizwe Sweswe, for taking over the baton handed to him, midway through the season, by three-time championship winner Norman Mapeza.
It could go to any other man in charge of the Premiership clubs — Godfrey Tamirepi of ZPC Kariba, Herbert Maruwa of Black Rhinos or even Taurai Mangwiro of Triangle or Rahman Gumbo for transforming TelOne since arriving, in the company of his assistant Lloyd Mutasa, at the Gweru club.
So, in case you might be wondering, why not this Ninja called Sibanda?
Well, it’s a complex, if not embarrassing case, which doesn’t only expose the Premier Soccer League, and those at ZIFA who have been issuing some ridiculous directives, but makes a mockery of the entire process to choose those who deserve to be rewarded for their efforts at the end of the season.
Although Sibanda has been in charge of Bulawayo Chiefs, since the second week of the campaign, taking charge of training sessions, barking instructions from the bench and conducting post-match interviews as coach of the Ninjas, his name was struck from the list of coaches eligible for the Coach of the Year on Monday.
Convener of the selectors, Steve Vickers, who is the head of sport at StarFM, revealed during the selection meeting in Harare on Wednesday that he was notified this week that Sibanda was not recognised as the coach of Bulawayo Chiefs by the authorities because he didn’t have a CAF A licence.
Chiefs had applied to ZIFA to have Sibanda allowed to lead their technical team, while he waits to enroll for the next CAF A Licence course, but the Bulawayo side did not get any feedback from the national association.
Ironically, the national association gave Chicken Inn coach, Joey Antipas, the greenlight to head the Gamecocks’ technical team, even though he doesn’t have a CAF A Licence, on the basis that he qualified for exemption because he is a past winner of the league championship.
Matters, though, came to a head when the same criteria was not extended to Moses Chunga, who won the league championship with Gunners, when he was approached by TelOne to take over as their coach with the ZIFA officials saying the former Warriors skipper was not qualified to sit on the bench.
Interestingly, ZIFA — whose technical officials seem obsessed with the CAF A Licence, whose courses have not been held in Zimbabwe for the last three years — still felt Antipas was qualified enough to coach the Warriors even though he doesn’t have a CAF A Licence.
How the ZIFA and PSL system allowed Sibanda to keep leading the Bulawayo Chiefs technical team for the whole season, without raising alarm, only to bar him from the Coach of the Year awards, remains a mystery.
Crucially, what are the consequences, if he was operating illegally, and shouldn’t those clubs that lost, while he was guiding Bulawayo Chiefs, have a right to cry foul and claim compensation?
Isn’t this the same, if the authorities say he was a ghost coach, like fielding an ineligible player given coaches, just like players, can now receive a yellow or red card?
If, that is the case, what impact will that have on the championship race or the relegation matrix?
On October 17 this year, Bulawayo Chiefs tweeted a picture of Sibanda describing him as “Ninja” soon to be the Coach of the Month.’’
And, on Sunday, the club also tweeted another picture of Sibanda saying, “Thulani Sibanda . . . dropping giants since kudala.’’
Videos have also appeared online where Sibanda is seen addressing the country’s football writers, at post-match press conferences as the head coach of Bulawayo Chiefs, sitting against a background of a Castle Lager Premiership banner, during the course of the campaign. His media addresses have come virtually every week, since he took over ahead of Bulawayo Chiefs’ second league match of the season, either ahead or after the league games and, all the time, he has been referred to as the head coach of the side without any concerns raised by ZIFA or the PSL.
He has also been repeatedly quoted, in local newspapers, throughout the season as the Chiefs coach, without neither the ZIFA nor PSL officials protesting that he was either masquerading as the gaffer, or misrepresenting the club he claimed to be speaking for.
“It was a tough game, but we have to thank our boys for showing the much-needed character,’’ Sibanda said when he addressed any army of journalists at Luveve last Saturday after defeating the Gamecocks.
“Managing to score three goals against a club like Chicken Inn shows that we really wanted to win. Our game plan worked well and in terms of fitness, we believe we are up there.’’
Since March, Sibanda has been quoted extensively as the Bulawayo Chiefs coach, across all publications in this country, without the PSL or ZIFA raising any alarm only for them to elbow him out of the Coach of the Year award just three days before the panel that was voting for the awards met to pick the winners.
The Ninjas, as they usually do on Twitter where they have combine comedy and serious business, appeared to take a dig at the league by cheekily removing the first name of Highlanders goalkeeper, Ariel, who shares a similar surname with their coach, and replacing it with “Thulani.’’
“Thulani Sibanda has made it to the 2019 Soccer Stars Calendar,’’ the Ninjas tweeted. “We have a Thulani Sibanda at Chiefs, Fact.’’
While Chiefs remain in relegation trouble, they have captured the imagination of the country with their spirited battle to avoid the chop with Sibanda’s men even holding Dynamos to a 1-1 draw at Rufaro.
In the past, gaffers who helped lightweight teams survive the chop have been rewarded in the English Premiership with the Manager of the Season award with Tony Pulis winning it with Crystal Palace in 2014 and Alan Pardew taking it home with Newcastle United in 2012.
Online Reporter