The Sunday News
HIGHLANDERS FC supporters have urged the executive to hire a coach with a proven track record to ensure the team does not find itself in another poor showing next season.
Bosso is in the hunt for a new coach to replace Bongani Mafu who was relieved of his duties in August following the team’s poor performance. Caretaker coach, Amini Soma-Phiri and technical director, Cosmas Zulu are holding the fort until the end of the season.
Several Highlanders fans who spoke to Sunday News expressed misgivings about roping in an inexperienced coach who would not make any difference at the club. Some fans said an expatriate coach would be good for the club as he would bring with him the latest knowledge in the game.
Fortune Maphosa of Gwabalanda said it was not time to experiment but bring in a proven coach. He said the Highlanders family has been hungry for the league championship for too long, bringing a winner at Bosso as coach will be a welcome development.
“Highlanders fans are an impatient lot and it would be folly to talk of the new coach building in the first year then winning in the second because we are now clocking 10 years without winning the championship,’’ said Maphosa.
“We need someone who will put the club where it belongs, the top. It is unfortunate we had to endure a terrible season which I think was because we hired someone whose experience was limited. We also need someone who can handle the pressure that comes with coaching Bosso, someone who will not give in to supporters’ pressure but will stand his ground and do his work because fans can at times be overbearing.’’
Gift Ncube of Emakhandeni said next year was not the time for experimenting as the team needed to win a tangible competition to celebrate its 90th anniversary.
Paul Masuku of Nkulumane felt Dutch coach Erol Akbay, who was in the country for an interview, should be given the reigns as he comes from a country where football is more advanced than that of Zimbabwe although he only coached lower division sides.
“Personally I feel their lower league would be more advanced than our Premiership hence I believe he has what it takes to bring back the glory days at our club. Yes he might not have won anything with his D2 side but with us it might be something different and he can give us the joy we have been craving for,” said Masuku.
Highlanders’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede is on record saying Akbay was in the country for an interview and no decision had yet been made to hire him.
Qondani Mdlongwa of Nketa said the coach should be a winner with a proven record and experience.
He was also of the view that a European coach would be better off in the hot seat.
“That is a high pressure job thus we need someone with the stamina to withstand the pressure and give us the results we need. Taking in Mafu was a failed experiment which I believe should not be repeated,” said Mdlongwa.
Mkhululi Mpofu, who resides in Njube, concurred with Masuku saying Akbay should be offered the job although he should be assisted by a local.
Coming from Europe Akbay was miles ahead of local coaches in terms of tactics and knowledge of the latest trends in the game, said Mpofu. Akbay’s online curriculum vitae states that he spent 17 years coaching in the Netherlands’ second tier league. He was also among 39 coaches that applied for the Rwanda national team coach job in February this year.
According to the CV, Akbay first ventured into coaching in 1997, spending two years in charge of Heracles Almelo’s Under-19 team before being asked to take charge of the Under-17s in the 1999/2000 season.
From 2000-2002 the Dutchman was involved in scouting for players from the Under-10 to Under-19 age-groups. He was then appointed head coach of second division side HVV Hengelo for the 2002/2003 season and led them to a fifth place finish, and also led the club to the semi-finals of a domestic cup.
The following season, he moved to another second division side Barbaros and finished 11th. He then joined another second league side BWO for the 2004/2005 season and led them to a top four finish. From 2005-2008, Akbay joined Twello, who finished sixth in his first season and fifth and sixth in the following two seasons. He then moved to Barbaros as a technical advisor between 2008 and 2011. He returned to HVV Hengelo in 2011 as head coach and stayed there for three seasons. In his three years at the club, he led them to a seventh place finish in the first season and fifth in both the second and third seasons.
