Online Reporter
Sharuko on Saturday
THIS week, my sister called me saying she wanted to check if I was fine because she was concerned by a barrage of criticism I faced on the Wild West jungles of social media.
She probably wasn’t surprised that my first few words, in my conversation with her, showed that I was not only upbeat, but certainly unfazed by what she felt was a tsunami of criticism which was directed towards me.
She knows that I am cut from the cloth that makes tough men, both physically and mentally, a true old school Ngoni warrior made up of the genes which made Shaka and his troops such a formidable and fearless military force.
That is why her concern, in a way, was quite a surprise for me.
What wasn’t a surprise, I told her, was the fierce reaction because it’s something that I had predicted in the article which triggered this negative backlash.
That prediction came in the fourth paragraph, before the end, of my weekly blog on this prime real estate last week when I argued that Nathan Mutasa was just a kid who was chasing his dream.
I argued that some of the harsh criticism he was being bombarded with had nothing to do with his football and, in our emerging COSAFA team which was in South Africa, we couldn’t argue that he was hopelessly out of depth in that company of players.
This is what I wrote in that paragraph:
“I know it’s not a popular stance to take and there will be a lot of bricks thrown in my direction, but someone has to be brave to say it and defend a 21-year-old kid who is now clearly confused by the sheer weight and brutal tone of the harsh criticism he is getting.”
One week later, after all the bombardment which came my way, I want to say it loud and clear that I stand by every word that I wrote in that blog.
And, I stand by my views that it’s wrong to suggest that Nathan’s level of football is so inferior that he was out of depth in the company of the emerging players we sent to that tournament.
A simple calculation of the minutes which our wide attacking players, who were in that team, have played this season in the Premiership will put Nathan in the top two and, for goodness sake, he is playing for a club which is part of those leading the race.
I would have had problems if Nathan was being preferred to Bill Antonio or Tawanda Maswanhise, but to suggest that he can’t fit into an emerging team, which scored only two goals, and a penalty, in 270 minutes, is a bit far-fetched for me.
Two of those goals, including the penalty conversion, came from one man and all the three goals came in one match.
For goodness sake, Nathan didn’t play in the first two games against Mauritius and South Africa and we didn’t win any of those matches, losing to Bafana Bafana and drawing against the Indian Ocean islanders.
He was thrown in for a few minutes against Mozambique and while victory had virtually been secured by then, he gave us a glimpse that he isn’t the hopeless footballer that he has been painted to be.
Gondai Mazhuwa, a South Africa-based football fan, went on the Freddie Pasuwa Mugadza Football News Facebook page, which is a gathering of ex-footballers, fans, coaches, agents and sports journalists and posted this message after Nathan’s cameo show.
“Nathan Mutasa is a baller. His first touch and tactical awareness are impressive. At 21, he must move on from the Zimbabwe league to avoid stagnation. With all due respect, our league has several shortcomings.”
The guys who run the CAPS United Loading News Facebook page went for a selfish angle, but this was their observation:
“Now, we are all quiet. The table was prepared and he silenced us all. No wonder why he was playing in Europe. Imagine his type of play alongside Benyu, Shandirwa, JB7 and Mabiala. Uko kwaari hakuna formation uko, ngaauye.”
I WOULD RATHER HAVE A MILLION MEN CRITICISING ME THAN A WALL OF SILENCE
I’m not the one who came up with that analysis, it’s other people who are prepared to see beyond the durawall of hate which has been erected around this young man for one reason or another.
People who decided that they can’t try to fool their brain and twist what their eyes were seeing simply because they needed to sing along with the crowd which had been telling the world that this young man is hopelessly out of depth.
The easiest thing for me last week was to flow with the tide and sing the song which many were singing and dedicate the one thousand or so words, which make this blog, to saying that Nathan was hopeless.
It would have earned me rave reviews on social media, they would have paraded me as someone who was saying the right things, at the right time, and all the nice things would have been said about me.
But, when you have spent a quarter-of-a-century running a blog like this one, on a weekly basis, and keeping it relevant, the mission is not about getting all the nice comments and beautiful responses on social media.
It’s about taking a stand, when you really feel that is the right thing to do, and whether that brings you a trainload of savage criticism is irrelevant because it all comes with the job.
We can’t all agree on one thing, in sport just like in life, and that is why other folks support Dynamos, while others support CAPS United and others support Highlanders.
Right now we have a group of DeMbare fans who are boycotting their team’s matches for a cause they believe in because they argue that their club is in a mess which has been orchestrated by a pathetic leadership and visionless ownership.
I understand why these fans have decided to use their power to try and influence events at a club which has been on a dramatic free-fall for years that every Jack and Jill can now be hired to coach it.
But, we have seen some Dynamos fans ignoring the calls to boycott these matches and they keep going to watch the team play and more often than not these days, lose their games.
Of course, the majority of the fans are the ones who are boycotting and reports that the Dynamos leaders have been forced to open gates and let in fans for free at half-time, appear to suggest that those who are staying away are winning this battle.
But, the mere fact that there is a group, which is still finding both value and romance in attending the DeMbare matches, shows that we are different, as human beings and we will always see things differently.
I might not agree with your views, but I will put my head on the line just to ensure that your views are heard.
Throughout my adventure as a sports journalist, I have faced different kinds of threats, but powered by my conscience, I have remained steadfast as long as I feel that what I believe in is right.
In 1997, Ghanaian authorities dragged me to a radio station in Accra where they demanded that I make a public apology and tell their people that an article I had filed for this newspaper was not a true reflection of what was on the ground.
They were furious that I had filed a story that the Warriors had been forced to train on a bad pitch ahead of a ’98 AFCON qualifier.
“On a small cleared field, in the middle of a dense forest just opposite the University of Ghana, the Warriors found themselves sweating it out at a training session that could have easily passed for a game between ancient tribes, who lived in the forest,” read my report.
The order for me was to retract that report, live on radio, or I would be deported from Ghana on the first flight from Accra.
I refused and asked them to deport me, which they didn’t.
This is just one example, but the point is that this is part of my journey, part of my adventure and the moment when what I write doesn’t provoke strong opinions then it would be a signal for me to stop.
I would rather have a million people criticising me for my views than no one responding to them.
At least, as Gondai Mazhuwa showed, I am not alone in my view that Nathan isn’t a hopeless footballer and that means I am not a mad man.
To God Be The Glory!
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!
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Peter Tanyanyiwa