Can Hunda alter Police XI fortunes?

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Correspondent | Friday September 10, 2010 00:00

The coach says he has become wiser after gaining experience with other clubs. Hunda has excelled with young players and achieved success with Uniao Flamengo Santos in the last two seasons. He guided the club to the Coca-Cola Cup title and finished third in the league last season, even though he left before the end of the campaign. 

Before his remarkable success with Santos, Hunda was regarded as one of the most experienced yet under-achieving coaches. Perhaps his passion for youth development contributed to his failure to get silverware in over 20 years of coaching before he was finally rewarded with the Coca-Cola Cup at Santos.

Although he suffered a cup drought for long,  Hunda believes his contribution to the local game has been immense given the number of players he has produced for the national team since arriving in Botswana in 1986.

“One of my products at Police XI was Desmond Molefhe. After I moved to BMC, I produced stars like Lollipop Mogotsi, Jack Gotlop and Jones Mfakose who all represented the national team. Today I can proudly say one of my products is Chicco (Daniel Nare). I found him as a young boy in Peleng and brought him to BMC and like the others, he went on to play for the Zebras. I worked with Twizer (Mosimanegape Ramohibidu) while he was still 10 years or so,” he said.

When Hunda arrived at Police XI before the end of last season, he found the team in disarray and still facing the prospect of relegation. However, he steered the club to a top 10 finish. There were reports of indiscipline at Police XI before his arrival and to curb the problem, the Zimbabwean had to resort to ‘military style’ training. While other players had the luxury of spending time with their families during the off-season, those at Police XI were only given a few days’ rest as Hunda had organised a rigorous training programme to get the team in shape before the start of the season.

“It was important to have hard training before other teams started their pre-season preparations as I had realised that fitness levels were low. I released some players and signed new ones and it was important for all the players to start working with their team-mates while we still had time. I believe it has paid dividends because we played as a unit in the two games that we have played (draws against BDF XI and Miscellaneous). We did not get the desired results but we played well,” he said.

Hunda who has had spells with Lobatse giants, Extension Gunners believes his third time at Police XI will yield better results. “I did not just come here because they needed me.

I also want to do better than before. Police XI is a big team and I would be happy to be remembered for having helped them re-claim their position as one of the country’s top sides,” he said.

Hunda has indicated that he is willing to mix youth and experience. “I have assembled a big squad of 27 players who are mostly young and I have faith in them.

I need the experienced players to give them direction. But if a younger player is doing better, then he deserves to be a regular. I need to be strategic in the way I give them (young players) a chance because if I give them too much responsibility, it could destroy them,” he said. 

After drawing against Miscellaneous, Hunda has warned other coaches to undermine the Serowe-based debutants at their own peril. “I know people would start casting doubts about our chances because we failed to beat Miscellaneous but I am not worried. Both BDF XI and Miscellaneous were tough opponents.

Maybe it was  good that we did not win because sometime early wins can be deceiving. You suddenly think that you are ready only to realise later that you still have a long way to go,” he said.