Appraising Ng’onamo

Inside the Chiwembe Technical Centre boardroom, over a cup of coffee or an ice-cold coke, very soon, the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) board will have to meet and appraise Flames caretaker coach Eddington Ng’onamo.

They will have to get the microscope and see Ng’onamo, his assistants Patrick Mabedi and Ernest Mtawali through the lens of a three competitive game target that was thrust on them when hired onto the hot seats vacated by redeployed Kinnah Phiri and company.

“Colleagues, do we offer Mr Ng’onamo, Patrick Mabedi and Ernest Mtawali full time jobs?” FAM president Walter Nyamilandu, who chairs such meetings, will surely ask his executive committee.

Then, they will certainly look at players’ positioning, tactics and statistics under Ng’onamo’s tenure reading: a win and two draws in competitive games and a draw and a defeat in warm-up assignments.

The FAM executive has to agree and fast before the Flames plunge to their next assignment; a trip to Zambia for a meeting with Zimbabwe in the 2013 Cosafa Castle Cup quarter-final on July 13.

On paper, Ng’onamo seems to be looking forward to a full-time romance with the Flames who are battling for their 2014 World Cup final qualification round after Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Kenya at Kamuzu Stadium.

“We have to build this team and prepare for the Cosafa Cup,” Ng’onamo said in a post-match interview, then before group leaders Nigeria’s 1-1 draw in Namibia later in the day handed the Flames some lifeline.

FAM needs to agree before the Flames even think about the trip to Nigeria for the decisive Group F World Cup first round qualifier. Malawi needs a win in that match. At all cost.

And if there be any hope for a surprise beating of the African kings, who lead the group on nine points, two ahead of the Flames, then planning has to start now, in earnest, football expert Felix Ngamanya Sapao cautioned.

“What is important is not to change the coaching panel until after the Nigeria fixture. Only after that should we draw up long-term plans with youth in the senior team, and not play for instant results. We need to look at systems that Manfred Hoener put in place and use them in rebuilding our youth development structure to feed the senior national team,” Sapao observed.

Captain Joseph Kamwendo also believes the planning has to start yesterday, noting that “everyone knows what is required of us in Nigeria, hence there is need for us to plan.”

When assessing Ng’onamo’s tenure, some FAM board members will likely throw in comparisons with Ng’onamo’s predecessor Kinnah, who had in his three competitive games, registered a loss (1-0 in Democratic Republic of Congo) and two wins (8-1 over Djibouti and 1-0 over Egypt).

In football, CAF football expert Ben Koufie argues, national team coaches are only responsible for how a team plays but the harsh reality is that they are judged by results.

The critics of Ng’onamo will trash his too many draws while his proponents will point to the fact that he is yet to lose in a competitive game and that for the first time, the Flames were able to beat stubborn Namibia.

Those vouching for Ng’onamo will say this man knows what he is doing. He had the guts to, with remarkable results of two goals in three games, call in camp Robin Ngalande, defying convention that players who are inactive at their respective clubs have no business representing their countries.

But those treating the Big Bullets mentor with contempt will question his leadership qualities when, visibly under pressure, he seems to be dancing to the whims of fans, recalling old players enmasse, including some who are past it.

Kenya coach Adel Amrouche wishes Ng’onamo well, hence after that draw at the Kamuzu Stadium did him some free consultancy in cautioning them against over-reliance on the old guard, noting that “the future of the team is not in them.”

Going forward, the Flames need more young players, Sapao seems to agree with Amrouche that the future lies in the likes of Gabadinho Mhango, Limbikani Mzava and Robin Ngalande with the help of experienced legs of the likes of Joseph Kamwendo and Robert Ng’ambi.

Ng’onamo might be still experimenting. Less than three months at the helm is too short a time to rate a national team coach, argued Yasin Osman in post-match interviews on Wednesday.

“Eddie has tried to correct some things but coaching is like (the) profession of medical doctors. You cannot learn in one month, it needs time for players to get used to a coach and the coach to understand the players.”

Whatever rating Ng’onamo will get, whatever final decision FAM arrives at, what is not in doubt is that Ng’onamo needs more time, the terrain is getting tougher and the faster he is seen to open a new chapter and freshen things up, the better. Otherwise, this might be a familiar Flames’ story with a different author.