Is the Zebras� future Bright?
Mqondisi Dube | Friday July 21, 2017 15:04
The challenges that his predecessor, Peter Butler faced are hovering above menacingly, with the Botswana Football Association (BFA), still the same association he left behind when he sought new pastures in South Africa nearly a decade ago.
In fact, the BFA was P10 million in the red when president, Maclean Letshwiti came into office last August.
The players have constantly staged boycotts, the latest coming just a fortnight ago on the eve of the COSAFA Cup.
The BFA has said the issue of allowances has been referred to the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development and a solution is expected in this area.
The Zebras are winless since last June, and were at some stage, inactive for six months due to BFA’s financial conundrum.
Bright comes in acutely aware of the challenges that he has to grapple with off the field, and put together a competitive national team.
The Zebras had shown glimpses of being continental beaters with victories over West African sides, Burkina Faso and Mali in 2015, but have gone off the boil since.
Bright’s last involvement at national level almost saw him take the Under-23 to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Dream Team had a glut of talent, with a young Moemedi ‘Jomo’ Moatlhaping in irrepressible form.
Now Bright has to transfer his magic to the senior side, although a lot has changed since he was in charge. He faces a tough test when his side takes on South Africa in the Africa Nations Championships in the second leg in Moruleng tomorrow.
His first game in charge was quickly soiled by two strikes from Gift Motupa and Ryan Moon as Bright was served an immediate, harsh reminder of the rugged terrain ahead.
Only positive results and exciting football will turn the tide around, and Bright is expected to be the Wily Old Fox to provide that spark.
But is he the right man to provide the Midas Touch after years on the sidelines?
His critics would argue, a young and energetic coach is needed to keep up with the rigours of modern day football.
They say Bright’s appointment is a serious indictment on the BFA and its failure to offer rising coaches a chance.
BFA was probably forced do dig into its ‘archives’ due to the fact that few coaches fit the bill to take the national team forward.
There is fear of the unknown in throwing an untested coach in the deep end, but the BFA has to take the risk, at some point.
Stanley Tshosane remains the only coach to take the Zebras to the Africa Cup of Nations finals, but asking him to return, just like Bright, is an indication that the BFA is stagnating in terms of producing able coaches or the association does not trust the young crop.
If the association is churning the right calibre of coaches, then it means the leadership at Lekidi Centre is apprehensive of its own products.
Of the names that were being thrown around to replace Butler, not a single young coach was mentioned. The nearest was probably Daniel ‘Chico’ Nare, but there was a round of chorus of disapproval that he was too raw for the job.
And bafflingly, the BFA still found it difficult to give the assistant coach’s job to an upcoming gaffer.
While there is nothing amiss with sticking to the tried and tested, there has to be some assuring appointments, which are futuristic.
Time will tell if the BFA took the right decision but the association would have scored higher had it taken a gamble to throw in a young coach, either as head coach or assistant to give hope to the future and reflect the demands of modern football.
Bright has the charisma to succeed, but he is known as a straight talker who will battle to bottle up amid talk of administrative crisis at the BFA.
Already there are reports that it has gone pear shaped at BFA with knives out early for new chief executive officer, Ookeditse Malesu.
President, Maclean Letshwiti, while he has been acknowledged as an astute administrator, has been criticised for being too trusting and surrendering a huge chunk of influence to a clique within and outside Lekidi, which has been left to decide the destiny of the ship.