‘TNM Super League unreliable yardstick’

Nyasa Big Bullets have just won the TNM Super League the title, but they have failed to translate this winning streak at the international stage.

Despite dominating the domestic league and cup competitions, they are punching bags at international level.

In those four seasons, for example, they have performed miserably in Confederation of African Football’s club competition, the CAF Champions League.

Bullets have been booted out in the preliminary round again, where they failed to score this year.

In 2018-19 the People’s Team lost to Kenya champions Gor Mahia on post-match penalties after one-all.

In 2019-20, Bullets were shown the exit by Zimbabwe’s Platinum FC following a goalless draw at Kamuzu Stadium and 3-2 loss in Bulawayo.

In 2020-21, Bullets were paired against South Africa’s AmaZulu and won 1-0 away but were stunned 3-0 at Bingu National Stadium.

In the current edition, Bullets lost to Tanzania giants Simba SC 2-0 at home and away.

Soccer analyst David Kanyenda, a lawyer by profession, said the TNM Super League is no longer a yardstick for local teams’ strength.

He said: “It says a lot about the quality of our league or lack of it. Our champions have been eliminated at the first hurdle in each of the last four continental outings.

“The local league fails to offer sufficient competition and exposure to compete against fellow African champions.

“Success in the Super League has proved to be an unreliable yardstick full our teams’ performance in Africa.”

Another soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda blamed the traditional local football giants such as Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Silver Strikers, who despite enjoying respectable sponsorship, fail to come to the party.

He said: “These are teams that ought to offer competition to Bullets. They ought to ensure they stamp their authority and compete to win the league title as well.

“It’s a pity that for the past four years, all we have seen are internal wrangles at these clubs that have derailed their progress.

“With these clubs failing to mount resistance to Bullets, we had to rely on Blue Eagles, Moyale and Kamuzu Barracks to do that.”

In the season that ended yesterday, runners-up Eagles started with a bang, leading the league for several weeks.

But once Bullets overtook the Malawi Police Service outfit, they were unstoppable and were already 11 points clear at the end of the first round.

Third-placed Kamuzu Barracks were also one of the teams that showed hunger for the title.

Another analyst Kelvin Moyo said apart from Silver and Wanderers, there is a big gap between Bullets and the other clubs.

He said: “Silver has a strong youthful squad which can compete against the best in the league.

“Looking at it from far, it seems they have internal management issues that once sorted, the squad will do its work on the pitch and be competitive.

“As for Wanderers, the team looks weak administratively which is affecting the technical side of the game and there is need to inject more youthful players into their squad if they are to become competitive next season.”

Moyo further said with Silver and Wanderers failing to come to the party, institutional teams stand no chance of competing against Bullets.

He said: “These teams are indeed very capable of achieving big in the game. The only problem they face is inconsistency.

“This is due to work related assignments which affect the teams such as peace keeping operations, more especially with MDF teams.

“Blue Eagles, among institution teams, have the potential to be a force to reckon with as the police normally does not transfer or assign members of the team willy-nilly as is done with MDF.”

Moyo said a little motivation to MDF and police teams can achieve more.

He explained: “It is all about motivation indeed. But another factor that should be considered is that promotion in rank by these institutional teams is a big motivational factor.

“The lads are willing to sweat blood to achieve this. Monetary rewards are a big motivator for civilian teams and most teams are affected by the economic challenges which have an impact on their performance.”

Promoted teams such as Rumphi United and Sable Farming admitted that they were relegated because the gap in funding affected them.

Rumphi United general secretary Jones Mockton admitted that they entered the topflight league without a sponsor, and that was a big challenge.

He said: “We were hoping that the Rumphi District community would come to our rescue, but it never happened. We competed in the topflight league out of passion.”

Nyasa Big Bullets chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said the club was aware that lack of competition in the Super League was affecting their club’s progress.

He said: “We know this is a big challenge. We have done all that is to be done and won everything worth winning on the local scene. But at international level we are still lagging behind.

“So, starting next season our sight is set on international level. We have a good plan to mitigate this. We will be announcing our plans at the beginning of the season.”

Though not explicitly saying it, Nyirenda suggested that the club will recruit more foreign players.

He said: “We cannot be playing against foreign clubs that have players from all over Africa and expect to win.

“But all this needs a lot of money. Without money, we cannot achieve this. That’s why it needs proper planning.”

But Moyo felt Bullets should do some soul-searching on whether participating in CAF Champions League is worth it. He said: “Bullets apart from building a team for CAF tournaments, should decide as to which tournament between Champions League and Confederation Cup will give the team more opportunities to advance and play more games.”