I’ve got a feeling . . .

It is a combination of two unfinished songs: Paul McCartney’s I’ve got a feeling, and John Lennon’s Everybody had a hard year from the White Album sessions (where it was demoed as Everyone Had a Hard Year) and Watching Rainbows.

It is a kind of song that you listen to and feel like dancing, and when you want to shake your body, you find yourself clicking your fingers and tapping your foot, what an old fashioned way of doing it! McCartney’s song was written for his girlfriend Linda Eastman, whom he soon married, telling her that she was the girl he had always been looking for. Lennon’s song was a litany where every line started with the word “everybody”.

While McCartney’s song was very optimistic, Lennon actually had a hard year–he divorced his wife, Cynthia Powell, his girlfriend Yoko Ono had a miscarriage, he was arrested for drug possession, and had grown deeply unhappy in the Beatles.

In the film Let It Be, Lennon jokingly claimed he wrote Everybody had a hard year, the night before. The song was covered by Billy Preston, who played keyboards on the recording, on his Encouraging Words album.

The fictional band BECK (Mongolian Chop Squad) covered this song in the 2004 Japanese anime and manga Beck: Mongolian chop squad, and it was released on their self-titled album. The band is seen performing the song in the anime, between episodes 23 and 24, where vocalist/rhythm guitarist Yukio “Koyuki” Tanaka goes up on stage to perform the song and is slowly joined by the other members of the then-falling apart band.

Serbian new wave band Elektricni orgazam released a cover version of the song as a B-side of their first single Konobar. Another version of the song was released on their debut album. The band often performs the song live. It has been featured on several of their live releases.

Brazilian rock singer Cássia Eller included part of the lyrics of I’ve got a feeling in the beginning and in the end of Por enquanto. The fifth dimension also covered the song. Their version can be heard on their 1975 album Earthbound.

Pearl Jam covered the song and it is featured as an extra track on Japanese releases of Ten; the band covered the song around 25 times from 1991 to 1994. Tesla included the song on the 2007 Real to reel covers album. Brazilian rock band Tinta Preta recorded a version for the CD Beatles ‘70 – Vol.1 (2010 – DB-032 – DISCOBERTAS label). The Beatles will always be part of the music world and yes, I’ve got a feeling.

The feeling I have however, is different from the writer of the song, although it comes from the bottom of my heart too. The feeling is that there is a powerful section in our football politics that does not want Rahman Gumbo as national team coach.

I have always had that feeling from the day he was made caretaker coach and I hoped he was going to win his enemies over by positive results but it has been two games when he has been in charge of the Warriors and both games have ended with negative results.

And there was no better sign that he is a marked man than the posters written at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday when the Warriors went 0-1 down to Guinea in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The message was bold and clear, some fans want Gumbo out, and want Norman Mapeza back.

And when you follow the incidents in the build up to the game, where a player like Bradley Pritchard, who plays football in a far more competitive league than the rest of the Warriors fails to earn his first cap because his passport has expired, then you realise there is a problem.

The Harare born boy plays in the First Division in England for Charlton Athletic and the nation was looking forward to seeing what he has to offer, but he watched the game from the terraces because he literally has no passport. Although Warriors manager Nyika Chifamba was quoted in the media during the week saying he was not even selected to play, you also get conflicting reports that he was set to earn his first cap but he had nothing to prove to the match commissioner that he was a Zimbabwean. Surely someone should have done his homework well in advance and we hear Chifamba is working on sorting out the passport issue for the player and hopefully the nation will benefit something from his European experience in future.

After the Sunday nightmare, where players were literally on holiday, not even playing for their coach, who had selected them, not even playing for the fans, who had paid their hard earned cash to watch them, and not even playing for the country that gave them to chance to represent all of us, then you realise the coach has serious problems, no matter what game plan he tries to employ.

The Warriors are in the same group with Egypt, who are eager to reclaim their place in the sun after failing to qualify for the past Afcon tournament, as well as Mozambique, whom we meet on Sunday in Maputo, and the road to Maputo has been more than bumpy for the coach.

There has been a theory that because he coaches FC Platinum, the majority of fans, who belong to Dynamos, Highlanders and Caps United, who command a large following will not accept him, but I just don’t get it because national duty is national duty, we can even have the first Eleven from Dynamos if they are good enough to be make it to the Warriors starting lineup and Highlanders and Caps United fans must accept that. In fact, the Sudan national team has players from two clubs only but is backed by the whole country.

Losing the first game at home made life a complete hell for the Warriors unless something magical happens this weekend, they beat Mozambique in their own backyard and Guinea and Egypt, who posted wins last week, settle for a draw to open the race once more.

While Gumbo and his assistants, Peter Ndlovu and David Mandigora were still trying to put their Guinea nightmare at the back of their minds, they found themselves with nowhere to train on Wednesday when the team was locked out of the National Sports Stadium, and Gumbo disclosed that he also had a feeling that some people wanted him to fail with the Warriors. You certainly cannot blame him for suspecting that he is being sabotaged.

And the drama did not end there, on Thursday, when the team was scheduled to leave for Mozambique, the players had their passports withheld by the staff at the lodge where they were camping as their hosts demanded their dues before they could check out. This is the national team we are talking about and what do you expect the coaches and the players to think? The actions of the lodge staff were not surprising though, taking into account that the lodge has a legal battle with the association over some outstanding money.

After Zifa president Cuthbert Dube, as usual, had intervened and solved the impasse, the Warriors failed to board the flight as they were not able to get tickets. They had to make a U-turn from the airport. How demoralising is that to the players? How frustrating is that to the coach? How embarrassing is that to the nation?

The tickets were not bought in advance and you get a feeling that someone at Zifa is sleeping on duty. Whoever that is, president Dube must do an in-house audit and find out who is not doing their job and remedial action taken before its too late. What Dube and CEO Jonathan Mashingaidze must always remember is that when things go off the rails in terms of logistics from the office, it is the board with their two faces first on the firing line.

I was listening to the radio yesterday morning and Dr Zobha was saying if the Warriors lose in Mozambique, the nation must not blame the players but blame Zifa. Perhaps he had a point because the players have not had the best of preparations, mentally and physically.

Sleeping on duty in serious workplaces is considered gross misconduct and may be grounds for disciplinary action, including possible termination of employment and we wish to remind the Zifa board that fact.

Feedback: “All over the world now football associations are investing a lot of money in junior football but with our Zifa we have not seen even a blue print on what they intend to do about junior football.

Look no tournament for juniors has been organised and, junior teams are only assembled when there is a Caf or Fifa tournament. Is it how things must be done? It is good for us to continue having an interim national team coach who is divided between his club and national team responsibilities? We want someone full time to take all the responsibilities who will travel and have a look at all the material that this country has.

At times I don’t understand how people come to a decision example being the DeMbare case.

It will be double dipping for DeMbare to play on neutral ground against Hwange in the replay of the match whose results was cancelled by the Disciplinary Committee. They will still be the home team to collect all the gate takings. It’s not fair to the fans who will have to pay again and Dynamos will benefit financially again. I don’t know how these people come to some of these decisions. Food for thought.” —George Sithole.

 

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