adminOff the ball with Muziwethu Hadebe
IT was such an exciting week on the off-season transfer market. If it was a stock market some would probably have been caught practising insider trading. This is no stock market but football, Zimbabwe football for that matter.
It is in Zimbabwe football where you can get away with anything and the fans are left wondering. Where a wrong can be seen and driven to be a right and the few who highlight the wrong, are called many names. Where there is no proper valuation of players, such that some sign up at new clubs at poor prices (under-valued) in the name of a greener pasture, while the fortunate ones are over-priced, where agents make more money than the player or the clubs when these transfer deals are done.
This is where managers, who are supposed to be looking after the players fail to guide their players in the off-season; a player can say anything to the media; through the media a player can be at four or more clubs in one month, where the same managers cannot invest wisely for the youngsters when they get good sign on fees- if they do get the amounts we read in the newspapers during this time, where the same players claim to be owed signing on fees from the previous years of a contract and go on to sign a new contract with a new club without the signing on fees credited to the player’s account and it’s all on promises. In Europe and elsewhere in this world a player goes through a medical before a sign on, here as long as the player has agreed on personal terms, it’s a done deal, until injuries resurface after a couple of matches. This is where the players’ contracts are often silent on medical aid or life assurance/pension for the player and his immediate family.
Maybe we have not reached the highest levels of professionalism, which is why most players enter into not-so-fair deals during this time. The football leaders need to emphasise that a good deal is not always about the sign on fee but a deliberate move to educate all of us in the total care of our players is needed, as the football players are at work and have families to look after.
There is no doubt Masimba Mambare’s move to league champions Dynamos was the biggest of the week. It produced many theories from different fans. Whichever theory you adopted, Mambare was out of contract at Bosso and was free to move to a club of his choice and his choice whether the fans liked it or not, was DeMbare. The theories raised like the “insider trading” by virtue of him being in the Warriors set-up, whose camp was stationed in Harare and that the Warriors assistant coach happens to be the Dynamos gaffer, questions on his loyalty to Bosso and indeed his frustrations at the way he was treated by some of the Bosso fans last year might be valid, but it’s a choice he has taken and it has to be respected by all. Mambare was good at Motor Action, better at Bosso and it is my hope that he will be the best at DeMbare (assuming he does not get a club in South Africa) after the Chan tournament, as there are strong rumours that he might be signed by AmaZulu of South Africa. He joins Dynamos when they got a fair draw in the Caf Champions league and will be expected to lead them into the mini-league stage if not the final of this competition.
As the country was still debating the departure of the former Warriors captain from Bosso, the Bulawayo giants were dealt another blow with Njabulo Ncube who scored 10 league goals last year headed to cash-rich FC Platinum at a reported deal of between $12 000 and $15 000 for a year. By the way Mambare is reported to have signed a three-year deal at $5 000 per year. I’m sure Bosso could not afford Ncube at that figure for a year given his age; maybe they could not raise even the $5 000 for Mambare at the time he moved to DeMbare or Mambare simply no longer wanted another dance at Bosso. The figures- if true, point to a market that might be pricing the players wrongly as the personal packages usually just cover the salary and the winning bonuses, with some of our clubs failing to pay salaries and sticking to winning bonuses. For “Mtakamama” as Ncube is known and calls everyone he meets on the streets, it’s a good deal given his age.
The two big moves have left Bosso fans fuming as well as the neutrals pointing to a dying Bosso. It exposed the team’s lack of planning its player’s contracts on time. When most of these players were signed two years ago, those in the know did highlight that Bosso would not be having a team in two years’ time and as the two players leave Bosso, most senior players whose contracts have run out are yet to commit to the club. Lack of cash/sign on fees have made it difficult to attract players and this has not only affected Bosso, but most of the teams in the league. Our editorial comment last year was straight to the point, “Reform of Die!”
While other teams like Chicken Inn, Hwange and Harare City have done their signings quietly for Bosso it’s a wake-up call. It calls for them, who already have junior teams to revert to promoting young players rather than go to the market every January. They have not won a title while going to the market for seven years. If they had missed the title in the seven years, with a host of talented young stars now ready to shine or to be exported it would make sense. They find themselves trying to hold onto their senior players, some of whom are aged. Yes, they will give them two to three years contracts, but the question is what happens after that; it will be back to 2014 in 2017 as they are back to 2012 this time around.
Not taking anything away from Kelvin Kaindu, who I must say has done a great job at Bosso in the last two years, you get the feeling that maybe Bosso needs a radical like a certain former son of theirs called Madinda Ndlovu, who can start from scratch with youngsters and build a team for the future. History has shown that he can do it and maybe looking into the future they might need him to build a strong team not necessarily looking at 2014. It might not be this year, but no doubt with little surplus cash to buy and compete with rich clubs; the best option for Bosso is to invest in young stars, with most of the cash spent on sign on fees for aged players. They also need to develop a market to export these young stars to realise revenue. It will be interesting to see what figures will be presented at the AGM for revenue generated from sale of players last year.
As the transfers continue, we wish the movers and shakers all the best in their new deals and look forward to a good performance from the warriors at Chan.
Mina zwi!!
Muziwethu Hadebe is a sportscaster with Zimpapers’ Star Fm. For feedback: [email protected]
Skype: muzi.hadebe29
www.facebook.com/muziwethuhadebe.
Online Reporter