When success is elusive

I have said many times here and elsewhere that I am not the excitable type and I rarely go hysterical on matters, always ensuring that when everyone around me is losing their head, I should jealously hold on to mine. That was why I could not understand the noise surrounding the hiring of Tom Saintfiet and I have been stunned by the reaction to our two losses at the Cosafa tournament in Zambia.

The point I was making last week was that it did not make sense to me that people were against Saintfiet’s hiring simply because he is not Malawian as if nationality of the coach were in itself a significant factor in the team’s performance. Malawi has had successful foreign coaches and it has had successful local coaches. We have also had foreign flops just like we have had local failures.

The argument I was trying to advance, therefore, is that I would only have understood reservations based on the capabilities, or lack thereof, of the Belgian tactician given the strength of our team and the task placed before him. Such views would obviously be subjective but certainly tolerable. At that point and even after that, I had not heard anything that did not border on sheer xenophobia.

There was also the argument that the money being spent on him is too much considering what was being offered to players. Now, that is mixing things up. Yes, our national football players need more money for the sweat that they produce on our behalf, but we should not use the coach’s package as a bargaining tool. Saintfiet justified his case and I trust the players can do the same.

I am just as disappointed as the next Malawian because of the two losses in Zambia, but unlike most people, I am not that mad. Granted, I did not watch the game against Angola, but I took a lot of heart from what I saw against Zimbabwe. Here was a team that started off badly, conceded a goal and went one man down in the first half. The recovery in the second-half showed character and gave me hope.

I know when you have been as starved of genuine success as Malawians have been, nobody is accorded the luxury of a honeymoon or grace period and people expect good results pompo pompo, but just like I would not have hailed Saintfiet as a genius if we had done better at the Cosafa tournament, I will be reluctant to join the bandwagon of those labelling him as a failure purely on the basis of those two fixtures.

Elsewhere, it was announced last week that the Arsenal, who have all along been linked with a move for Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, had put in a £30 million bid for Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. I initially dismissed the story because I could not associate that figure with Arsene Wenger’s side and because, given his comments last month, I never expected the Uruguayan to be interested in a move to London.

It later turned out that a bid was indeed made and instantly rejected and that Suarez was actually excited about it. The funny thing about it all is that some Arsenal fans that I know have all of a sudden changed their opinion of the striker. He has moved from being a racist and a cannibal to a hugely talented striker who can help the Gunners end their trophyless run. If I were to put my neck on the line, however, I would say Suarez may leave Liverpool, but not for the Arsenal.