Not the Silver I know
If the subjects under scrutiny were Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers, I would not have wasted this space calling for sanity as they thrive on chaos. There is simply no clear legal ownership and direction.
But I am talking about mighty Silver Strikers. If there is a silver lining in the wreckage of domestic league football, then it is Silver.
Three TNM Super League champions, on the trot and a healthy contribution of players to the Flames prove it.
Silver boast the best players and the standards are high at Area 47. Coaches who do not deliver the goods get to know the exit door.
Their distinct sky blue is surely not the limit. When Silver eye CAF competitions, installing modern gate electronic systems at the Silver Stadium and going professional, we listen.
Not until last Sunday when Silver decided that the wisest reaction to referee George Aziz Nyirenda’s questionable award of a penalty to Moyale Barracks at the Mzuzu Stadium was to troop off the pitch with few minutes remaining on the clock.
Silver’s paronia that everyone hates them is misplaced for there are some of us who respect them.
In Mzuzu, Silver should have risen above the pettiness and play under protest knowing that referees make mistakes, even Mexico had two clear goals ruled offside at the 2014 World Cup finals.
I am not backing the Super League of Malawi and FAM who, are times, selective when punishing offenders. I agree most domestic referees are either incompetent or biased, but Silver could have done better.
Silver officials have also done no good to the team’s image. Threatening to withdraw from the league and to write Fifa, as is sometimes the case, is childish as this trickles down to the whole team.
Irresponsible utterances, hooliganism, fines and bans are now synonymous with Silver. Is this the image Silver want to be associated with? Or is there something wrong with my expectations of Silver; the true surviving domestic football giant?
