Upsurge in foreign coaches regressive

Dennis Keagile | Friday August 7, 2015 17:26

This is quite a regressive development. What it essentially means is that the growth and empowerment of local technicians has taken an extremely backward trend. And, as the Premiership grows, chances are that the top four teams will always go for non-citizens who are perceived to be more experienced and have composure.

Once we used to have the likes of Six Keatlholetswe, Ezekiel Mooki, Stanley Tshosane, Sthando Mogwadi, Letang Kgengwenyane, Daniel ‘Chico” Nare to mention a few. But sadly all these coaches, who the Botswana Football Association and other various sports institutions invested in, have left the game and pursued other interests.

All their knowledge and experience is going to waste. What therefore is the real cause of this; is it because our clubs do not pay well to tempt these technicians from their full time jobs for those who are working or is it because of lack of confidence in those that are available? BDF XI, which used to take pride in empowering local coaches from within its institution has now joined the bandwagon of impatience.

Not long ago the club fired Elijah Chikwanda and roped in Kgengwenyane but Zambian Beston ‘Quick Silver’ Chambeshi who is remembered for his past association with defending champions, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, has since replaced Kgengwenyane. The likes of Mogwadi and Seth Moleofi have since retired from coaching. The onus is now left to Extension Gunners coach, Keitumetse ‘Pio’ Paul, Oris Radipotsane at Jwaneng Galaxy and Ken Mogae of FC Satmos to salvage some pride for the Tswana breed.

It is a huge challenge these coaches ought to grab with both hands and fight for other coaches. Compared to the rest of Southern Africa notably South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique, Botswana fares badly in having most clubs in the Premiership being coached by non-citizens. In South Africa, it is quite interesting because, except for a few clubs, the rest are coached by citizens with Kaizer Chiefs having joined the fray after many years being coached by non-citizens. Some of the coaches in South Africa do not beat some of our local coaches in terms of qualification, but perhaps exposure and being streetwise do the trick for them. I see no reason why Keatlholetswe, Tshosane and Nare cannot find a job there.

In fact, I would love to see these guys joining David Bright there. But my only gripe or discomfort with Bright is that he now specialises in coaching in the First Division. It looks like he cannot accept to be an assistant coach in the Premier League. I strongly feel that Keatlholetswe on whom the BFA invested heavily, is being wasted but it would be better if he could take his knowledge and skill to other countries so that he does not get rusty.

The likes of Kgengwenyane and Nare are still young to be rotting in the street. That said, the release of Kabelo Dambe by his club Platinum Stars for professional misconduct is quite worrisome and disturbing to say the least. And unfortunately there are quite a number of good goalkeepers in South Africa, which means that Dambe could not find employment in any of the Premiership clubs.

My hat however goes to Modiri Marumo who together with Mogogi Gabonamong, Diphetogo Selolwane have managed to keep their places for long in the South African Premier League. As for Joel Mogorosi he joined the professional ranks a bit late in his career, though he is still not finished. The Premier League however ought to produce other Selolwanes and Gabonamongs to last in the top professional ranks.

The number of dropouts is worrisome. Considering that the likes of Galabgwe Moyana, Jerome Ramatlhakwana, Dirang Moloi, Noah Maposa and now Dambe could not last long is disturbing. What it means is that our junior structures are not good enough to produce strong, solid rounded persons.

What it implies is that the Motswana player is not that strong mentally when faced with adversity in a foreign land. That being the case, the focus will be on Township Rollers and its coach Mark Harrison when the Premier League kicks off this weekend. Rollers have invested heavily in engaging Harrison and bringing in Gabonamong, Dambe and others to its stable and, as luck would have it, they won the Barclays Kabelano Charity Cup, probably the first ever cup for Harrison as a coach. But as to whether Chiefs can defend the title remains to be seen. Chiefs still lack balance and could do well with the signing of a goalkeeper, defender, defensive midfielder and a striker.

The defending champions need a strong and fast striker who can play alone upfront. Rollers for its part has more than enough goalkeepers and should consider releasing Mwampule Masule so that he continues with his development and growth. As for Green Lovers, Miscellaneous and Galaxy, all I can say is, welcome to the Premier League. Only the fittest survive in this league and the first 10 games will be crucial. A good start always builds confidence and ensures stability overall around.

Good luck to the new-kid-on-block, GiliPort Lions. Clubs that derive names from their owners do not always instantly make it big. It takes quite a bit of time for them to win the hearts of many, as it is not easy for the community to easily identify with the team.