Nico United fire coach
Tapela Morapedi | Friday March 17, 2017 16:06
His suspension followed a series of poor results that left the Selebi-Phikwe side in a precarious situation in the league. He was on the sidelines when Nico played Miscellaneous and Green Lovers. Peter Muchina and Monametsi Kelebale were in charge and led Nico to a 1-1 draw against Miscellaneous. Nico went onto register a victory against Green Lovers, which paved way for Mwiinde’s departure.
“It is true we have parted ways with him. We are not saying he is not a good coach. It is just that things can refuse to work out for you in a team, but work perfectly well for you in another environment,” Nico spokesperson, Mogomotsi ‘Ace’ Orapeleng told Mmegi Sport yesterday. He said both Muchina and Kelebale will continue to lead the team until the end of the season. Orapeleng said the management will make a decision at the end of the season about the position. “He is not bitter about it. He even talked to the players on Wednesday and encouraged them to continue working hard for the team,” Orapeleng added. Nico currently sit on position 14 with 18 points. They take on BDF XI tomorrow in Molepolole.
There are also reports that Debswana First Division South side, Notwane have also parted ways with coach, George Mogopodi. Mogopodi replaced Wire Kaelo in the middle of this season. Mogopodi’s last match as the head coach was this past Saturday when they drew 0-0 with Mogoditshane Fighters.
Nico United have lost thirteen players in the current season, but have not been able to replace the vacancies with the same or better quality owing to financial constraints. Nico United chairperson, Mothusi Taolo when briefing the supporters at the consultative meeting this week said the club failed to retain 13 players after they were left without funding because of the closure of BCL Mine. While the club filled up the vacancies, they did not find the right mix of quality and experience to strengthen their squad. The club recently lost Gift Moyo and Nelson Moreetsi to Orapa United in the January transfer window, leaving the team without key playmakers.
Taolo explained that the departure of the two has however brought a substantive undisclosed amount of money that allowed them to sign other players. The club had managed to negotiate a better deal with Orapa United for the two players to relocate to another mining town.
The chairman told supporters that their efforts to secure a sponsor have not been successful, but they continue knocking at various doors for help. He said the majority of the business community in the town have explained that their businesses have been affected by the closure of the mine. BCL was the economic mainstay of the town and the region and thus the provider of business to the vast majority of the Phikwe business community.
The Nico boss further told supporters that Nico had secured a partnership deal with Lekadiba Club to turn Lekadiba into a clubhouse for Nico United. Lekadiba Club gave Nico a total of P570,000 as sponsorship last season but the deal has since fallen off following the resignation of Lekadiba Club’s former chairperson. The current committee managing Lekadiba Club do not believe in the partnership with their bone of contention being that Nico do not bring anything into the marriage.
The owner of Club Elpaso, the only nightclub in Selebi-Phikwe is reportedly interested in taking over the team. Nico United management said they are yet to meet the nightclub owner who is said to be outside the country.
Taolo said that there were a few interested parties before the BCL closure, but none of the deals have taken off since all of them were centred on benefiting from BCL. Taolo revealed that a substantive amount of the club’s funds was accrued from BCL employees’ membership subscriptions. It would seem that BCL employees were the only subscribing members of the club and since its closure, the club has no subscribing members. “Nico United currently has no subscribing members following the closure of the BCL. This means that technically, Nico United has no membership,” said Taolo.
The supporters voiced discontent with the team’s executive committee, accusing them of failing the team. One supporter cited a divided technical committee as the genesis of club’s problems but not funding. ‘Baby Jombies’ fans have fears that their team is going down but they however pleaded with each other to be calm and resolute even in the face of a continuing threat of collapse.
The club chairman assured them that they will do their best to find a lasting solution to their problems. He promised that his committee will not refuse to handover the team to whoever is willing to take over the team to save the Nico brand provided the general membership has agreed to the decision as per the club’s constitution. He encouraged the supporters to also do their part and help save the team.
Taolo called upon all Nico United fans to exercise patience in the team’s struggle and offer their participation by attending games. Nico United has suffered a great loss by losing their sponsor and key players but in their grief and anger to management, United fans call for unity so that they may find their moment of peace.
The supporters announced that they will have a sponsored walk to raise funds for their struggling team on March 18, 2017. The walk will start at Area 1 and end at the same place. They say grief recedes with time but it seems Nico are running out of time for grace. It remains to be seen whether the club will turn the hand of time to evade possible collapse.