Chronicle Editor
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
PATIENCE is a virtue but the football industry is ever in a hurry and most of the time it’s the coaches that suffer.
Footballers lose form yet remain at their clubs for years but it is not so with coaches. Every day football managers are sacked. While the players are given the carrot, the coaches get the stick. Hiring and firing coaches in football is an ugly trend that must stop.
It must stop because there is no clear indication that impatience with coaches is a guarantee for success.
Examples abound of several clubs that fired coaches with reckless abandon in a seemingly unfair manner. Ngezi Platinum Stars’ sacking of Benjani Mwaruwari and his assistant Bongani Mafu on Monday quickly crosses the mind.
Highlanders’ firing of Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu and his backroom staff of first assistant coach Bekithemba Ndlovu and goalkeepers’ trainer Julius Ndlovu exactly a month after posting a 1-0 Independence Cup win against Dynamos and days after getting the better of the same opponents in an abandoned league match that the Bulawayo giants were leading one nil, also comes to mind.
Bulawayo Chiefs firing their assistant coaches Mark Mathe and Farai Tawachera, gaffers who were second in command, leaving their Portuguese boss Nilton Terroso in charge, is another case.
After that Chiefs quickly reunited with their ex-head coach Thulani Sibanda who is now the assistant gaffer to Terroso.
What a recycling trend!
Only days ago, army side Black Rhinos parted ways with Herbert Maruwa because of a “clash of beliefs.”
And Tenax have parted ways with head coach Shadreck Magurasawe. Magurasawe resigned after he felt the club was undermining him by forcing him to take back Blessing Madombi. Madombi had been fired months ago for disciplinary reasons.
After leading a seemingly resurgent basement side, Bulawayo City to a shameful 13 rounds of play, veteran local coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube, was also shown the exit by Bulawayo City, who interestingly, immediately hired Tawachera to take charge.
With a running contract just like the other coaches, Rodwell Dhlakama was fired at Ngezi Platinum Stars, a development that saw the platinum miners hiring Mwaruwari and Mafu.
“From the behaviour of the Ngezi Platinum leaders in the past, this clearly shows that they are trigger happy. With the resources at their disposal, they can build a good team but they have to start behaving like football people. Patience is a virtue, which they should cultivate.
“Not everyone can be an Abramovich, who fires coaches willy nilly and still succeed. Patience is needed in football. I wish Benjani all the best in his future endeavours. Stay in the game,” said legendary goalkeeper Japhet “Short Cat” Mparutsa.
The financial implications of firing coaches are a burden that clubs can do without. Our sister paper H Metro reported on Tuesday that Mwaruwari might get a US$440 000 golden handshake.
Well, while it might depend on the length of the contract, he signed at the Mhondoro club, one might argue that sometimes money paid to fired coaches could be better used to strengthen teams.
Clubs in the habit of firing coaches include successful, less successful, average, small and big teams.
Bosso are enjoying a sound sponsorship from Sakunda Holdings and as such Mpofu and his other fired colleagues were assured of a golden handshake.Tawachera and Mathe also smiled all the way to the Bulawayo Chiefs’ salaries department, thanks to a lucrative sponsorship deal with betting company MOWS and their principal sponsor, who is reportedly into mining.
Dhlakama is probably also hurting but his bank account is healthy because Ngezi Platinum Stars are undoubtedly one of the best sponsored local football outfits in a list that also includes Chicken Inn and FC Platinum.
There is sometimes a serious need for clubs to carefully look into the implications of hiring and firing coaches in football. Of course, football clubs cannot totally avoid firing coaches but one can argue that coaches should be given enough time to prove themselves or turn things around.
There is no guarantee that a club will be successful the moment they sack a coach. If anything, sacking and hiring of coaches now and then makes the club unstable. Players have to adjust to different tactics frequently, a situation that may compel some to reconsider their stay.
Player power in football could also be a reason why football managers are sacked.
Firing coaches could have serious financial implications on the clubs. It is not in the interest of clubs like Highlanders, Bulawayo Chiefs, Bulawayo City and Ngezi Platinum Stars to pay for services never rendered.
The unjust hiring and firing of coaches in football is an ugly trend, it must stop. — @FungaiMuderere
Online Reporter