Although not there, my own Botswana has a European coach and I have come to accept that. I did not agree with the decision, but have learnt to accept that we have a European as a coach, and I support him. Mind you, this is not based on whether our coach ids good or not, but on the fact that I would have wanted him at the development structures where I feel he can make more of an impact. For me, most of these Europeans should rather be at development structures. For the purposes of this piece, let’s call them foreign coaches, as they are foreigners in Africa. I for one still feel that Peter James Butler should be at the Development Structures rather than coaching the senior National team. That way he will have a hand in developing players from a young age and getting them through the different age groups until they are ripe to perform at the seniors’ level. Other see it differently though.
Now back to the African Nations Cup; 13 of the 16 teams there are coached by ‘foreign’ coaches and looking by the standard of the football on display, I wonder what these coaches are bringing that our fellow Africans cannot. For one, Ghana played much better under the recently fired Kwesi Appiah than currently under the Israeli Avram Grant. And I’m pretty sure Grant earns way more than what Appiah earned. Sad but true. There are those coaches who have made Africa their haven and move from national team to national team. Alain Giresse, Henri Kaszpercak, Claude Leroy and Herve Renard immediately come to mind. Yes; they have won Championships, but with the same support, chances are that our own African brothers can also win Championships.
