Letter to Peter Butler

Dennis Keagile | Friday September 18, 2015 14:55

I suppose I chickened out because I did not have all the facts or put in another way, had only one side of the story and needed to touch base with the other side.

Peter, after your visit to Francistown I think you have been uplifted spiritually and very much encouraged. The win against Burkina Faso, which was not expected and came after a long dry spell, definitely eased pressure on you and gave you a bit of confidence. I therefore want to ask, what did you take back home to Gaborone as a lesson?

I am of the view that on many occasions you have been your own enemy or should I dare say you have been naïve in handling some issues of national importance.

Definitely, you have not been that smart with some of your utterances and decisions in as far as selection of players is concerned.

Peter did you see how Galabgwe Moyana performed and did you see how Joel Mogorosi changed the structure of the team upfront? And wow that man, Boitumelo ‘Navara’ Mafoko, what a performance!  The stability he brought to the defence.

I am, however, sceptical that if it was not for his coach at Jwaneng Galaxy, Oris Radipotsane, who happens to be your assistant, maybe he would not have been selected for the senior national team.

Peter, I want you to have an open mind with regard to the selection of the senior national team. I want you to be a motivator to all and not only that, but interact with other coaches as well as doing duty for the various premier league clubs in the country.

The saga between you and Mochudi Centre Chiefs is quite unnecessary and for a moment I wondered how the management of Chiefs got involved with the national team coach.

For me, this was supposed to be an issue between you and the Chiefs coach for I expect a technician to discuss technical matters with another technician.

As a national team coach, you should veer off the politics of the local game and look at national interests.  I am saying this because the Galabgwe you saw playing well is the same Galabgwe who was dropped while at Chiefs and the same Galabgwe who was being picked while at Polokwane City in South Africa.  The coincidence of events you would agree with me raises a lot of suspicion that at times you are punishing the nation and yourself by not selecting players for non-football matters hence I say what did you learn from the Francistown game.

The people of Francistown gave you unconditional support and want you to do much better and believe you and me, one day they will be asking questions why so and so are not in the squad because the expectation is that the team ought to qualify for Gabon 2017.

Looking at the game itself it seems Burkina Faso were playing for a draw judging by their slow pace. It will be a different ball game in the return leg in Ouagadougou.

Worse is that the political situation in that country is not stable.  I therefore, urge you to seize this opportunity and have a new thinking, which is accommodative to all. 

The good thing is that you have an experienced and streetwise chief executive officer, Kitso ‘KK’ Kemoeng.

Please use and even abuse him to your advantage because he is quite familiar with the football politics in Botswana and how to deal with the media too.  Peter, I still have to see someone who has won a battle with media.

Tell you what, the media is very good at keeping grudges and not talking to some members of the media does not help because when you are in this position there is no way you can avoid it.

The best way is to learn how to manage it or live with it.  It is an extension of your office. With Sakaeyo Jane, Phakamile Kraai and KK within your midst you should do extremely well in dealing with the media.  They are all media people. Hope to see you again in the next home game against Eritrea in Francistown. That feel good factor experienced in the northern city will live on for long and your next selection should be free of any politics and should purely be on merit.

But that said, congratulations on your win against Burkina Faso during the recent 2017 AFCON qualifiers game played at the new Francistown Stadium.

You will agree with me that the reception and hospitality you got from the residents of Francistown was a complete opposite of what happens in the capital city, Gaborone.

Yes, it would have been criminal of you and your boys to lose the game given the support you got in Francistown. 

The major thing that was so markedly different was the involvement of the city mayor, Silvia Muzila. I think she went to great lengths to mobilise support for the team and I understand there was a local organising committee to ensure everything went smoothly.

I think by now she and her committee have done an evaluation and hopefully the next game, things would be much better.

Given that this was the Zebras first official game in the city with a large turnout, I would give she and her team a score of 75 percent.

I, however, do not want to dwell much on the mayor and the city council, but I am grateful though for her passionate interest in the game. 

I have always wondered why in Botswana during big games or tournaments, we seem not to see the first citizen of the town or city at the forefront. This is definitely the way to go.

 Yours in Sports,

Dennis Keagile