adminas he compares himself with past coaches like David “Yogi” Mandigora, Elvis “Chuchu” Chiweshe and Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa. Pasuwa, however, reveals in an interview with GRACE CHIRUMHANZU that he has amassed a lot of knowledge as his predecessors’ assistant coach over the years. That will be his weapon in future tough battles.
Grace Chirumhanzu: Your appointment as Dynamos coach came with a lot of criticism. One critical one was that you had spent most of your career as an assistant coach and at most times to Lloyd Mutasa, whom you replaced after he had been deemed a failure, and so people doubted your ability for the big Dynamos post. What did you make of that?
Callisto Pasuwa: Yes, the supporters and the executive were divided, some of them did not have confidence that I will deliver. It is a shame that in Zimbabwe we tend to take assistant coaches for granted. But it is through being an assistant that one gains the knowledge and experience to be a successful head coach. I learnt a lot from Lloyd (Mutasa), Moses Chunga, Sunday Chidzambwa and (David) Mandigora.
As an assistant, one gets to be groomed into a qualified head coach. I am grateful to have a very supportive young assistant in Tonderai Ndiraya.
I remember not taking the loss in Tunisia well. A lot of things crossed my mind I even asked myself if some players were bribed. I was so confused that I went out to sit alone at the beach and Tonde (Ndiraya) came to me and said ‘No mudhara, munogona kuzvikanda mumvura’. He came to my room and insisted that he was going to spend the night with me.
Sometimes he (assistant coach) is the man who sees all the loopholes sitting beside a coach who is succumbing to pressure during a heated match. It is the process of being an assistant that prepares one for the big post in the future. I felt I was ready to graduate and take up that post and I proved it.
G.C: Dynamos supporters are not easy to please. You win three games, lose one and they shout for your head, if they are not impressed by a player during a match they call for you to make a substitution. How do you deal with that?
C.P: Those are the things that will make one give up if he does not know Dynamos supporters. I have been in Dynamos long enough to know our supporters. I remember there were times when some coaches could not stand the heat of fuming supporters and I was left alone on the bench as team manager at the National Sports Stadium.
As a Dynamos coach one needs to be firm with his decisions. A player may not play to the supporters’ expectations but he will be in there doing what he is instructed (to do) by the coach. So if as a coach one starts reacting to the supporters’ calls everything will turn bad and they (supporters) will be on your case.
G.C: What special changes do Dynamos need to tick locally and continentally?
C.P: Our players need to build on the physical stamina seen in most foreign players and they need to be fit. When we played in the Champions League it looked as though we had travelled with an Under-23 side when we faced our opponents.
But the main problem why it is difficult to bring about such a positive change in Dynamos is that a coach is not given time to acquire his players and build them into a classy team. If a coach fails to win one or two games he is shown the exit and another coach comes to pick up from where he had left.
G.C: If you are to leave Dynamos today for whatever reasons, what are the good and bad memories you are going to take with you?
C.P: Coming to Dynamos with everyone doubting me was a big challenge but I can walk smiling knowing that I managed to help DeMbare win the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, lift the Mbada Diamonds Cup and prove a force to reckon with.
The bad memories I have with Dynamos is that time when I was told that my services as a coach were no longer needed after I had given such results. I kept wondering which wrong button I had pressed really to deserve that. (He laughs)
G.C: What do you think is the best way to prevent sabotage from your players who may accept cash to make you look bad so that you are fired?
C.P: Sometimes it involves socialising with them at a more personal level, visiting them at home and reminding them that they are the ones who make Dynamos great. A lot of things may happen with them for sure, they may be paid by outsiders to sabotage the coach to lose his job. But they need to know that the coach may be fired today but his (the player) wrong doing will haunt him for long. I remember Moses Chunga always told the players that you may sabotage me here and I get fired but remember one day we may meet at CAPS United. They need to know that they are not winning for the coach, but for themselves, the club and the fans.
G.C: What kind of a father are you after losing?
C.P: (Smiles) Yeah, these days I am mature and I am getting to know how to handle it. I get to leave the bad things that happen on the field there. I remember my son Kenneth saying ‘mazuvano Daddy vakura kudhara taisapagara pano vadyiwa’.
G.C: What do you think is the most embarrassing situation at Dynamos that you will change if you had the powers?
C.P: It is a shame that by now as Dynamos we do not even have our own stadium. FC Platinum came yesterday and right now they have their own ground. So this is something I just wish to see happening at DeMbare. The club also does not have a club house and having our own Dynamos sports shop will be great.
Online Reporter