Trail of excuses

Silver Strikers coach Pieter de Jongh and his Mighty Mukuru Wanderers counterpart Mark Harrison have said circumstances beyond their control led to their failure to meet targets their respective employers set to win the TNM Super League title.

Both the Central Bankers and the Nomads set winning the title as well as two other silverware as targets for the two expatriate coaches.

But FCB Nyasa Bullets sealed the title for the fifth time on the trot which is the 17th overall last Sunday when they drew one-all with eventual runners-up Silver.

In an interview on Thursday, De Jongh said:  “It is not correct to suggest that I failed to meet the targets, it is the board or management who failed because for me to achieve the set targets, they needed to provide me with necessities.

“When you are looking at targets, you have to look at both sides and the reason  we failed to win the league was because they [club] couldn’t get me the six or seven players I asked for, especially two quality strikers.”

He cited the failed deals of Zambian forward Evans Katema and FCB Nyasa Bullets striker Hassan Kajoke.

Said the Dutch gaffer: “And as I keep on saying, failure to negotiate for [Chimwwemwe] Idana’s permanent deal in time led to the player missing seven games and mind you, this is the heartbeat of the team. Out of the seven players I proposed, I only got one.

“Then there was this issue about our plans being affected by unplanned national team call-ups, poor officiation, not playing some crucial matches at our [Bingu National Stadium]  home ground and crammed fixtures.”

On the other hand, Harrison had no kind words for officiation.

He said: “One thing that needs to be addressed in this country is the sad state of officiation. Whether it is lack of knowledge, understanding or quality or just  cheating, I don’t know, but it needs to be addressed.

“If you look at the points we have lost this season due to bad officiation, decisions going against us, game after game, it has all been due to bad officiation. It’s not good and it’s destroying Malawi football.

“As long as this goes on, Malawian football cannot progress. The FA [Football Association of Malawi] and Sulom  [Super League of Malawi] have to address this. They cannot turn a blind eye to this, which they keep doing. They need to address this sooner or later. It is outrageous.

“I have been across Africa for so many years. I have coached on the continent for at least two decades now, but I have never seen something like this.”

The Briton also said having dominated domestic football for the past five years, Bullets have created a winning mentality, “which plays a big part in football”.

Said Harrison: “And as I have said before, we are coming from a background of a five-year drought and we are trying to rebuild the squad and the restructure of the  club and we have to build mentality as well.

“Of course, we won the Airtel Top 8 last season, but it was a trophy we won from nowhere. But we are closing the gap and we have shown a lot of improvement this year, but we are still in the process of revolution.

“Having said that, next year it will be more intriguing and it will see the change in champions.”

On the way forward, both coaches said they need to beef up their squads.

De Jongh said he is looking at signing a defender, two midfielders and a striker while Harrison said: “We need to bring in two or three players in strategic positions. There are certain areas we need to fill to make us stronger to bring us to the level we want to be.”

But football analysts have said Bullets will continue to dominate the domestic flagship league unless other teams, especially fellow giants Wanderers and Silver restrategise their approach.

Renown  sports journalist Peter Kanjere said the difference between Bullets,  Wanderers and Silver is that the People’s Team has an shrewd coach in Kallisto Pasuwa who works in a conducive set-up managed by progressive administrators whereas Silver and Wanderers have quality players, “but not necessarily strong teams”.

He said: “Bullets coach has an average squad that is relatively youthful, but he still delivers. He makes own decisions with little interference. He is tactically better and improves players, including rejects such as [former Wanderers forward] Ephraim Kondowe. who found his feet again.”

Kanjere added that, on the pitch, Bullets have a clear playing style and make good use of home ground advantage.

“They know must-win games and that to win the league, you must do well against direct competitors. In contrast, Silver and Wanderers have no idea of what it means playing at home and can’t figure out strategic matches. They can lose anywhere at any stage of the league,” he said.

The journalist said the Nomads and the Central Bankers are far from being professional as their set-ups are “so toxic and are still controlled by divisive elements, the fans”.

He believes there is no clear vision and stability in management  in these teamsand it is just money without proper plan on how to spend it on new players.

Kanjere said: “Wanderers buy players they can afford and not the ones they need while releasing players they need, but don’t know how to use them.

“Most of the players Wanderers rejected are stars at their new teams. Talk about goalkeeper Herbert Mapira now at Silver, Richard Rapson now with Blue Eagles and Kondowe who is at Bullets.

“They buy players irrespective of whether they suit the team’s needs and style. Their coach [Harrison] kept complaining week-in and week-out about poor finishing without finding a solution.”

Kanjere concurred with another analyst Parry Chinyama that the other problem with the Nomads is that they don’t seem to have a particular consistent playing style let alone consistency.

On Silver, they said De Jongh has tried to improve the playing style, but he doesn’t seem to have full control over the buying of players.

Said Kanjere: “He asked for reinforcements, but nothing materialised. Silver look so average every time they play without  Idana. The coach’s emotional intelligence is questionable as he is too aggressive for nothing.

“This affected the players on the pitch. I have lost count of the red cards de Jongh has collected this season alone. Such a shame.”

On his part, Chinyama stated that Silver and wanderers have problems in the way they administer their teams as football politics has crept into their operations and the people charged with governance of the teams have a laissez-faire attitude.

“In these two teams, there is lack of commitment among technical team members and the players while Bullets, on the other hand, are prepared to take risks. They have trusted their reserve sides who have the same philosophy and have the will to die for the team,” he said.

“Pasuwa, on the other hand, knows Malawi football well. He is prepared to take risks and is prepared to listen to others. Despite investing a lot of funds in purchasing quality players, the Nomads and Silver have failed to fit them into their team and system.”

He added that Bullets work as a team while the other clubs are crippled by individualisim,

individualism has affected them.

“Unless they change the way they operate, Bullets will continue to dominate local football, which will result in Malawi not performing well on the continent,” Chinyama explained.