Why Saintfiet?

Some things never change in Zim football. At ZIFA, it doesn’t matter who is in charge, it’s always full of surprises. And there is an age old adage which says never change a winning team that seems to have eluded those in charge of our football.

True to form, the latest board in charge at 53 Livingstone connived to shock soccer loving Zimbabweans with an inexplicable decision to relieve Warriors Coach Norman Mapeza and replace him with one Tom Saintfiet who is being fired by lowly Namibia. What really is wrong with these people? Fine, we might admit that Nomara hasn’t yet proved himself at the top level in terms of coaching, but how better is this guy from Belgium, we wonder? At least we know who Norman is. The man won the domestic championship with a then non giant called Monomotapa. He has played in world football’s top club competition, the European Champions League. He has captained the Warriors and played countless matches at both senior and junior national level. No one can really take anything from the way he has started the current campaign, nor the performance of the team he took to Liberia two weeks ago. So, on what basis did the so called selection committee decide to sideline Mapeza for the unknown Belgian?

Why are our Zim football administrators so obsessed with foreign coaches? It’s very surprising given that no foreigner has even been able to win the regional COSAFA Cup with the Warriors. On both occasions the warriors have qualified for the Cup of Nations and the Championship of African Nations (CHAN), it’s been the local boys who have been in charge, Norman included. We don’t care what their CVs say or where they have coached before, if the foreigners aren’t gonna take us to the Holy Grail; we don’t want them anywhere close to the Warriors bench. Besides, the come at a cost ten times more than what the locals demand, so why ZIFA why?

Maybe the answer to the treasonous decision the selection committee had arrived at can be found in the alternative nominations these guys had made. It is reported that the committee had appointed Black Mambas’ Madinda Ndlovu and ex - Monomotapa (now Eagles Gaffer) Friday Phiri to deputise Sentief. Caps United Goalkeepers Coach Richard Twatwa was also to be roped in. What’s striking about that decision is the fact that neither of the appointees had applied for the job. It would appear therefore that a plot to ensure the interests of the members of the selection committee are catered for in the Warriors set up was brewing here.

We are happy when men who have put personal resources in developing the local game get involved in the decision making hierarchy, but our deduction of how these appointments might have been reached, sends chills right down the spine. It would appear Friday Phiri came in as Solomon Mugavazi’s trump card. Mugavazi is a director at Monos where Phiri is part of the coaching staff. There is no hiding that Twatwa represented Twine Phiri’s interests, being from CAPS United which is owned by the PSL Chairman, and Madinda represented some Regionalists who seems to clamour for some dubious quota system which really has no place in football. This of course is a ploy to influence the team selection and guarantee that clubs like CAPS United and Monos get their players in the national team, and get chances to be bought outside the country, for the likes of Twine and Solo to pocket the dollars.

Mapeza might just be paying for his level headedness. He showed that he is not scared to make big decisions by dropping Captain Benjani Mwaruwaru, his Vice Esrom Nyandoro and Midfield kingpin Tinashe Nengomasha for the trip to Monorovia, and many might have swallowed their hearts when his new look side put up a good show and irked a decent result. This might not have gone down well with some quarters who were hoping he will be condemned for his bravery. It became crystal clear that influencing such a man to pick their favourites will be pie in the sky, and so the ZIFA bosses thought of giving the job to their blue eyed boys. It’s sad that the same men we thought were building our game are the forefront on destroying it.

Yes, there might be nothing yet to suggest Mapeza was going to be a huge success, and who knows, ZIFA might still settle for someone else even before the end of this campaign. But why should we accept the appointment of this excuse called Saintfiet that Namibia no longer wants being preferred ahead of Mushini wemajuzi. Norman deserves a chance, not only to ensure continuity as he deputised Sunday Marimo, the previous head coach, but also simply because right now, there is just no plausible reason to drop him. The man hasn’t failed, and it appears the team, fans and the media like him. So why drop him? Zimbabwe needs to play for consistency if we want our game to succeed. Our neighbours South Africa might not be the best example of consistency, but they showed some reasoning when they appointed Pitso Mosimane to take over from Carlos Alberto Pereira ahead of Gavin Hunt, 3 time League Champion with Supersport. Its clear the decision was influenced mainly by the need for consistency, since Pitso was Pereira’s understudy, and the same reasoning should apply to Nomara.

We are tired of these double standards. If it was not for our love of the Warriors, we were gonna call for a boycott of all Warriors matches long as this Belgian is in charge, but thats too much. Its up to you the owners of the game, maybe we need some uriri on the Warriors bench when Cape Verde comes, or better still in the VIP enclosure, just to express ourselves.