Zebras plunge into double crisis
Mqondisi Dube | Friday October 17, 2014 14:38
The Zebras were without midfielders, Ofentse Nato and Mogakolodi Ngele who were absent due to disciplinary issues.
Nato reportedly went to camp drunk while Ngele withdrew from the Egypt trip in a huff after a stand-off with the technical team.
Coach, Peter Butler now faces a double-edged challenge as he sifts through the rubble of a mangled AFCON campaign.
While Butler would argue that he is developing a squad for the future, he was expected to balance his project with results.
Two morale sapping home defeats against Egypt and Senegal raised questions about the direction of the young project. But the coach can point to the calibre of opposition as he faced three imposing giants in the AFCON group stages.
Butler has bloodied emerging talent with some tried and tested veterans. The results are mixed thus far. In fact the record looks soiled with only two victories in six official matches.
The Zebras might have created their own piece of history after losing all four group matches by conceding two goals per game.
While Butler ponders the on field headache, Nato and Ngele readily tabled another concern.
The behaviour of the two might actually mirror deep-seated divisions, which might explode into a full blown crisis in no time. The world over, coaches have felt the wrath of player power, and Butler might sooner or later succumb if the Nato, Ngele issues are not handled diligently.
Both players have fired salvos with Ngele asking why Butler constantly calls him if he is off form, while Nato challenged the coach to prove if indeed he was drunk.
The incident has, without a doubt, left the Zebras camp split as there are those who will naturally sympathise with the players, even silently so. Others will stand with the coach, leading to the existence of concealed fissures.
But Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Tebogo Sebego believes the problems are not deep-rooted.
“We are waiting for the technical report, then we will take matters from there. Some of the decisions, I am told, were taken to protect the integrity of the team. We need to find out why players behave in a certain. We need them and they also need the national team for their careers,” Sebego said.
He said there was need for players to understand the new re-building culture.
“We are rebuilding for AFCON 2017. I personally thought we would get between five and seven points, but am not particularly worried about the results,” Sebego said.
In the four group matches played, Butler’s boys have managed only one goal, while letting in eight. The bright spot in the Zebras mediocrity has been the emergence of talented Segolame Boy and the wide pool Butler has developed.
The coach has called a number of previously uncapped players and has not hesitated to launch them into the deep end. Mosha Gaolaolwe and Obonye Moswate have sparkled. However, the off the field destruction might prove to be the hippo that rocked the boat.