The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS acting executive chairman Modern Ngwenya has blamed coach Erol Akbay’s pronouncement in August that he would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season for the team’s catastrophic performance in 2017.
Bosso, by their own standards had a devastating season and ended in sixth spot.
Highlanders suffered some embarrassing losses during the course of this season, these including being conquered at home by Shabanie Mine, Tsholotsho and last Sunday’s defeat to Yadah in Harare.
As Bosso struggled to keep up with the leading pack during the course of the season, accusations started flying from the coach to the executive and the other way round. Ngwenya strongly believes things went awry at the oldest football club in the land when Akbay told journalists at a Press conference on 3 August that he was walking away come the end of the season.
“Our drop in form happened when our coach decided to tell the media at a Press conference that he was not going to renew his contract come the end of the season. Any player plays for his coach, when he said that players were emotionally affected by what he said because they have a bond, they play for Akbay,’’ said Ngwenya.
His observation was that the pronouncement by the Dutchman had a negative effect on the players as shown by their match against Harare City at Barbourfields three days after the announcement which ended 0-0.
“If you realise the next match after he said that against Harare City, you could tell from the body language that the players were affected, we were very fortunate we earned a point from that game. That’s where we lost it, how can you tell the Press before you tell the executive, you tell the executive and we don’t say anything to the Press, we don’t even tell the players until the season ends because it affects the players,’’ Ngwenya said.
He felt that Akbay should have calmed down before speaking to the media because his announcement had a devastating effect on the whole Highlanders institution.
“That statement was very devastating, it actually demoralised everyone, the entire institution was demoralised by that. If you are disappointed or emotional, the best thing is to keep to yourself and speak to the media when you have cooled down,’’ he said.
On what exactly caused the breakdown in the relationship between the coach and the club leadership, Ngwenya pointed at Akbay’s frustration with being unable to send money to his family in Netherlands which he attributed to a failure from Highlanders.
“Akbay is one of the best paid coaches in the country, he gets his salary on time religiously every month timeously from our sponsors BancABC. The only problem that Akbay had which we did not have a solution is to have his money transferred from his account to Netherlands but that has got nothing to do with Highlanders, it has got everything to do with RBZ and for him then to say Highlanders had a part in it I don’t know because our part was to pay him, we paid him and that frustrated him as a coach but he took it out on us,’’ he said.
The Bosso interim executive boss believes that as a leadership they gave the technical team all that they wanted by making sure that contracts for players which expired at the end of 2016 were renewed. Ngwenya said the only player they failed to secure was former Hwange striker, Gift Mbweti who was snatched by financially better FC Platinum.
“We gave him the arsenal that he needed. We added strikers that he felt would add value to Highlanders, he had a total of nine strikers. As an executive we do the administrative work of the club, we are not trainers, we don’t have the expertise and the aptitude to separate a bad player from a good one,’’ Ngwenya said.
On why they did not find replacements for Prince Dube and Rodreck Mutuma who left during the mid-season transfer window, Ngwenya said that was because Bosso were still left with seven strikers on their books. Akbay wanted Chicken Inn striker, Obadiah Tarumbwa but with the Gamecocks fighting for the championship, they could not release the former Bosso player.
“The coach always gives an excuse for not getting results that he lost Prince Dube and Rodreck Mutuma but he had nine strikers, he lost two strikers, what he literally means is that the seven strikers that he had are useless which I believe is not true because we have a coach who blames everyone except himself. Mid season he wanted Obadiah Tarumbwa but the player was contracted to Chicken Inn. They were also gunning for the championship and they were not prepared to release, is it our fault? Talk of Highlanders failing to get a player who is a free agent, Obadiah was contracted and Chicken Inn couldn’t release him,’’ Ngwenya said.
He insisted that as an executive they are at the end of the player recruitment process where they sign what the coach is happy with so if the mentor signed athletes not capable then he should take the blame for that.
“We are at the final end of the recruitment of the players, he recommended players that he wanted and signed them and after signing bad players who is to blame? Are we to blame as an executive. It doesn’t matter who brought players to the team, the coach is the one who has got the final say so if that player is a flop, the problem is not about the person that brought the player but the problem is the coach because he would have certified someone as skilful yet they do not have the aptitude to don the black and white colours,’’ the Bosso acting chairman said.
Akbay, however, does not believe announcing his departure was the cause of the team’s struggles in the second half of the season.
The Dutchman blamed it all on the departure of Dube and Mutuma as well as the sacking of Obiang Esono Buale. Ngwenya said the striker from Equatorial Guinea was sent packing because he lied about his age since it was discovered that he was 28 yet he had said he was 24.
“I don’t think my announcement had any effect because our training was still the same. But the loss of three strikers changes your style and we had to find another way, it takes time. Every team that loses good players, they struggle,’’ Akbay said.
The Dutchman insisted that he was only left with four strikers, these being Ralph Matema, Nhlanhla Ndlovu, Ray Lunga and Tambwe Kalunga. He feels that Gabriel Nyoni, Godfrey Makaruse, Kalunga and Lunga are not real strikers but he was forced to use them in attacking positions.
Ngwenya defended the move to engage club members outside the executive to handle the feud between assistant coaches, Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu and Amini Soma-Phiri.
“We tried to resolve the issue amicably as an executive in vain hence the decision to refer it to an independent disciplinary committee composed of bonafide members of the club,’’ he said.
Seeing that Akbay took charge of his last game for Bosso yesterday, Ngwenya revealed that plans to hire a new coach were at an advanced stage with an announcement of the new man to take over from the Dutchman to be named in the coming weeks.
“The process of looking for a coach started way back, unfortunately I cannot reveal where we are right now but come the end of the season we will have a clearer picture of who we will be working with. All Highlanders sons, Amini Soma-Phiri, Bekithemba Ndlovu, Rahman Gumbo and KK (Kelvin Kaindu), they are being considered,’’ he said.
Ngwenya described as a huge opportunity for him to be Highlanders acting chairman, a role he believes sharpened his skills as a football administrator. His indication is that he might decide to seek election as the substantive chairman come next year when the club members choose their leadership.
“It was a privilege to head Highlanders as acting chairman, making decisions, it’s a learning rope, you go into an environment and learn new things.
Obviously it was a new experience in terms of my development as an administrator, it can only take me to a higher level. Naturally you would want to remain at the top, you would to be substantive. When we are done with everything at the end of the year I will do a cost benefit analysis and see whether it’s worth it to be substantive or to retain my position,’’ Ngwenya said.
Despite the Bosso followers believing otherwise, the businessman is convinced that he did well as acting chairman where he was standing for Peter Dube who was suspended by the Zimbabwe Football Association a year ago.
“I only joined the executive last year as vice-chairman, unfortunately our chairman Peter Dube was suspended, I went into that hot seat unexpectedly.
To me I did very well, relatively well considering that our sponsorship was cut but we completed the season without the team having failed to travel due to finances. Unfortunately when people judge you, they look at the performance of the team, they judge you as if you are the coach of the team and yet you are the chairman,’’ he said.
It is yet to be seen if Ngwenya will decide to seek to be the Highlanders’ chairman come elections next year. That would require him to relinquish his position as vice chairman, a risky move that could see him completely out of the Highlanders executive should he lose out on the chairmanship.
— @Mdawini_29
