Online Reporter
Sharuko On Saturday
GENERALLY, over the course of the quarter-of-a-century which this column has been running on this prime real estate of this newspaper, I have enjoyed a relatively good working relationship with my readers.
Of course, we are human and, inevitably, it means that there have been many occasions where the readers have disagreed with me.
But, even in the worst case scenarios, when emotions really explode, we have generally chosen civility instead of civil war, decency and, more than anything else, respect.
On those foundations we have built a beautiful relationship, between the writer and his army of readers, where even in the depths of our disagreements, we have defiantly refused to be lured by the agents of chaos.
However, all that changed one eventful Saturday in June last year.
I wasn’t even aware of the chaos, which was raging on that day, and the insults, which were being directed towards me.
That was until my friend, Spencer Manguwa, tipped me off that I was being given a hell of a rough ride, with insults raining from all over, on many platforms.
Many of the comments were savage. One guy even claimed I was probably a prematurely-born baby, while another one insulted my late mother in a way no one has ever done before.
And, no one else is ever likely to do so, again.
Another one said I probably left all my five senses in Chakari when I left home to come and work in the big city, while another one said I was Satan’s first-born child.
It was just vicious.
My crime was that I had dedicated this blog to Nathan Mutasa under the headline; ‘Nathan Is Just A Kid Chasing His Dream.’
I wrote about a footballer with model looks, a newboy in our Premiership and a young man trying to adjust to the brutal demands of playing in a top-flight league for the first time.
I wrote that, during that week, no other name dominated local football conversations on social media the way this young man had done.
I noted that throughout the week, Nathan was subjected to harsh criticism amid allegations that he had gate-crashed his way into the Emerging Warriors team that was in South Africa for the COSAFA Cup.
I noted that a big constituency said he didn’t deserve to be there and had only been smuggled into the team by some forces, in the background, who had hijacked the selection process for the national teams.
Reading some of the comments, I noted in that column, left me wondering if this was really about football or Nathan was just a mere pawn being used by those, who don’t like Scottland, to vent their anger.
And, I wrote that it appeared there was a group of people, including some who were not necessarily football fans, who didn’t like him simply because he is Pokello’s son.
I wrote that it was not in dispute that Nathan was still very raw and has a lot of rough edges which need to be polished before he can become the footballer that he wants to be.
I HAD SEEN A RAY OF HOPE WHERE MANY WERE SEEING HOPELESSNESS
I also wrote that it was not in dispute that Nathan had a very poor game against MWOS, in that same week, and a lot of the anger, which was being directed at him, appeared to be coming from many people whose judgment of him stemmed just from that one game.
I acknowledged that it was a very rough and tough test for Nathan and his case was not helped, in any way, by being thrust into a central role as the spearhead of the attack when he was effectively one who plays on the flanks. I said it was normal for a footballer, especially these young players, to have an afternoon when everything just goes wrong.
But, I argued in that column that what I couldn’t understand was how some fans could gang up against a 21-year-old kid, we had just known for the last three months, playing just a few games, the majority of them as a substitute? I said that for goodness sake, Nathan was not thrust into the real Warriors side, which was in Morocco, but into a developmental team, which was in South Africa, for the COSAFA Cup.
If we can’t use the players, who have potential, and my argument was that Nathan had that potential, for tournaments like the COSAFA Cup, where were we ever going to give them a platform?
I noted that Nathan still had many technical flaws.
But, for me, that was fine because he had just started his journey, at this level of football, and it was up to the coaches to address that and help him become a better footballer.
Nathan did not play in the COSAFA Cup game, in which we were held to a goalless draw by Mauritius and, save for Padera, I wrote that I didn’t see anything from our other players to suggest that they were on a level where a player like Nathan would be out of place in their company.
I disagreed with those who were saying Nathan was hopelessly out of depth, and didn’t deserve to be part of a developmental national football team at a tournament like the COSAFA Cup.
I said Nathan was a Zimbabwean boy who loves his football and that was the reason he chose the game when it’s quite clear that there were many other channels which were open for him. I argued that he should not be judged by his family connections, or who his mother was, but he should be judged purely as a footballer, who is just starting his adventure and trying to settle in our Premiership.
I argued that all this negativity had affected him and I could see that he was now playing with a lot of fear – knowing that if he made a mistake the brigade which didn’t like him was ready to slaughter him.
I urged him to be brave, amid all this hostility, and I appealed to his support staff to help him through this storm.
THE BACKLASH WAS VERY, VERY BRUTAL
Then, I wrote the paragraphs that foretold the backlash, which followed.
“I know that this is 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.
“What I have seen is that he is a decent footballer and I would rather have these young boys being given a chance than keep seeing the veterans being recycled.
“He needs love and not hate.”
And just like that, everything exploded and all the insults, which were being showered towards this young man, were redirected and were being fired towards me.
It was one hell of a Saturday, the worst day, in terms of insults, since I penned the first edition of this column, 26 years ago.
Along the way, I later realised that even Alois Bunjira was also receiving his fair share of brutal criticism for daring to say that he could see some potential in this young man.
But, for all my flaws as a human being, and I have many of them, one thing I have never retreated from is my belief in God. If my conscience is clear, I can weather the worst of storms.
Fast forward to today, whether you pick Wednesday or you pick Sunday, the choice is yours.
There is the same Nathan Mutasa, the same footballer, just a year older, just a different shade of blue on his shirt and he is now being praised by many of the same people who were raining missiles towards me for daring to say he was a decent footballer.
He scored against TelOne, created another goal and had a huge role to play in the equaliser for Dynamos against Scottland in that blockbuster showdown at Rufaro on Wednesday.
You can’t tell me that in the past year this young man has improved, from the so-called misfit many were dismissing as a hopeless footballer to becoming this decent footballer who has become a darling of Vietnam.
Show me any footballer who has come to Dynamos and in the two games he has played cameo roles, both times as a substitute, he gets the kind of love which Nathan is now getting, and I will give up drinking.
Of course, someone will say Evans Gwekwerere. That’s 20 years ago, isn’t it?
But Gwekwerere was a starter at Dynamos, in those two games, and not a substitute who has come carrying the punishing weight of a burden that comes with what he went through last year.
What he suffered at the hands of those who doubted him, or simply didn’t like him and, in the process, also turned their hatred towards some of us. You see, they are now preparing the table for Number 66.
To God Be The Glory!
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakari boys in the struggle.
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Antoniooooooooo!
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