Players, coaches find Super League season tough

Excitement has been a buzzword during the 2013/2014 TNM Super League season which winds up next weekend, but a postmortem of the season shows that it has been a rugged road for both players and coaches.
Soccer gems such as Epac FC’s Ishmail Thindwa, Mafco’s Callisto Kalinda and Red Lions’ Kumbukani Mwambene elevated themselves from being just good players to better stars.
Analysts also believe that besides being tough this has been one of the most exciting seasons in recent years considering the tight race among contesting teams.
It can be said Thindwa is set for personal glory with the 15 goals he has scored in search of a second Golden Boot  Award in three seasons despite Epac being confined to a distant 10th position on the 15-team log table on 38 points.
Mwambene and Kalindo are following hot on his heels with 12 goals apiece.
But in general, the striking power of the Super League forwards has nose-dived in the past seven years.
Thindwa finished the 2011/2012 season with 18 goals and so did former Bvumbwe United star Vincent Chinthenga last season.
Things were different before 2003 because Heston Munthali, playing for the now defunct MDC United, won the award with 24 goals during the 2001/2002 season. Bullets former striker Ganizani ‘M’bobo’ Malunga hit 28 the following season. Before searching for greener pastures in South Africa five years ago, former Bullets star Jimmy Zakazaka notched 17 goals in just 11 first-round games.
“I am trying my best to hit 20 goals this season, but it is not easy to achieve because most teams have improved defensively nowadays,” said Thindwa during the week.
Nevertheless, the 2013 season has also been extremely tough for coaches such as Azam Tigers coach Leo Mpulula who has lamented lack of support from the team’s administrators.
A number of teams have fired and hired coaches, but not much seems to have improved on their performance.
Mpulula, who has hinted at this being his last season with Tigers, said his team is currently on ninth position on 36 points not because he is a failure, but because the executive did not give him the tools he needed to deliver.
“How can I perform when the club always buys the cheapest players on the market?” Mpulula asked, adding that he turned down better offers from Mighty Wanderers and Civo United for the love of the team.
Tigers chairperson Sydney Chikoti admitted that they failed to get players wanted by their coach due to financial hiccups. He, however, said injuries of their five key players, who were involved in a road accident on the Chikhwawa Road, was also a setback.
“It takes a lot of time and resources to groom talent, but once that is done, other clubs come to snatch them from us,” said the Tigers boss.
The success stories of Silver Strikers, Mafco, Moyale Barracks and Kamuzu Barracks have spoken volumes of what can happen when a team enjoys the required support.
The four are the only sides that have realistic chances of winning the 2013 league title. Mafco, who wrap up their fixtures today against Civo United, lead the log table with 48 points while Moyale are second with 47 points with a game to go.
Silver Strikers are third with 47 points and they remain with two games, including one against relegated Evirom FC today. Kamuzu Barracks were on the fourth slot with 44 points from 26 matches before they took on Epac yesterday.
Silver are the league’s defending champions whereas Mafco and Kamuzu Barracks won this year’s Presidential and Carlsberg cups.
But the going was tough for the other teams.
With two games to go, coach Gerald Phiri of Big Bullets fears for his job as his team struggles  to finish among the top three. As of yesterday, when they were taking on Mponela United, Bullets had 37 points.
Phiri said he could not understand why the team continues to struggle despite his effort to equip the players tactically.
Nonetheless, Phiri is lucky that he is still a coach for Bullets; his counterparts Franco Ndawa, Felix Fosco and Thom Mkolongo lost their jobs at Silver, Wanderers and Civo United, respectively, following poor results.
While things seem to have improved at Silver, who are favourites to defend the league title under Stain Chirwa, the story is different at Wanderers and Civo. The Nomads are sixth with 42 points while the civil servants are 11th on 34 points. Both remained with two games as of yesterday.
When all has been said and done, the question that comes to mind is whether the firing of coaches is the best solution to improve a team’s performance in the top-flight league.
Former Flames coach Yasin Osman does not think so.
“A team’s good performance is a result of collective effort among administrators, coaches and players. If administrators do not provide the coaches with good players and the players are not motivated financially or mentally, do not expect good results. Of course, some coaches are really dull.”
Sports Council board chairperson Bester Kalombo, who was referees director at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) headquarters in Egypt for nine years, concurred with Osman that a lot is required for a team to perform well; hence, the frequent firing of coaches does not solve problems.
He said coaches need to be given enough time to develop and familiarise with the players to produce good results because sometimes poor performance is a result of attitudes of players towards new coaches, especially those taken on board in the middle of a season.