Castle Lager Premier Soccer League administrators have come under the spotlight as worrying statistics of the rate at which they fire coaches emerge.

The only success that local football seems to know is winning the league title but fact is only one team can win the coveted premiership crown per season leaving the other 15 contenders as “failures”.

So high has been the turnover that of the 12 teams that survived relegation in the just ended season, only the trio of Chicken Inn (Joey Antipas), Hwange (Nation Dube) and Chapungu (John Nyikadzino) are likely to start the 2015 season with the same coaches that they opened 2014 with.

Saul Chaminuka, who led debutants ZPC Kariba to a fairytale season losing the title on the last day of the campaign, is said to be in all sorts of problems with his club management and chances are that he might opt out of the power utility’s changing room.

Record-breaking Kallisto Pasuwa’s fourth league title on the bounce in addition to a glut of knockout honours failed to convince Dynamos to tie the coach to a new deal and the former Warriors midfielder was subsequently replaced by 1980 Soccer Star of the Year David Mandigora.

Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa welcomed Mandigora with a 30 points target in the first half of the season — a precursor of 60 at the end of the campaign — and this clearly shows the executive will not settle for anything less than the title which they won in the last four seasons with less than 60 points serve for 2012 in which they amassed 69.

Then reigning coach of the year Bigboy Mawiwi, Lloyd Mutasa, Kelvin Kaindu, Moses Chunga, Philani “Beef” Ncube, Luke Masomere, John Phiri and Arthur Tutani were all jettisoned in the 2014 season, but to say all these men deserved the boot is absurd.

Chunga, who is president of the Soccer Coaches’ Union of Zimbabwe, said it was unfortunate that blame always lies with the coaches when things don’t go well.

“There are a lot of things that have to be looked at from an administrative point of view. I think the first problem comes with the setting of targets where you see clubs whose investment into a successful season cannot suffice that of a second division club harping that they want a top four finish.

“It’s a clear recipe for disaster. In such circumstances coaches are to blame because ideally they should tell the executives that the target is unrealistic.

“A lot is expected of us to an extent that a coach will be tasked to raise a team from the dead, but we can’t do this because the only person I know who can achieve this is Jesus. So unless if you want us to challenge Jesus and then become Satan,” said Chunga.

Chunga said most of the administrators are business leaders whom if asked will confess that it took them two years or more to start getting results from their businesses, so why they don’t give coaches similar time surprises his union.

Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches’ Association chairman Bhekimpilo Nyoni said the administrative wing was the biggest letdown for local football.

“Administration is letting our game down. I will give you an example of Triangle, a club that had never won anything in their life before being led to the OneWallet Super Cup by Biggie Zuze.

“But we are told they have already appointed another head coach.

“The game is administered with no guiding strategic plan, so when things go bad, the easiest thing to do is just to fire the coach. The coaches are also to blame for accepting one-year contracts, honestly, what can you achieve in one year besides bagging 12 months’ salary?” queried Nyoni.

The league’s longest-serving head coach with one club, Nation Dube of Hwange, who has been at the helm of the coal miners since January 2013, said the problem with the local game is that it is run by people with no knowledge of doing what is expected.

“The trend is very worrying to say the least, my brother. The problem we have is the game is run by people who are not qualified to be in positions that they find themselves in except that they only used to watch football making them supporters in privileged positions.

“There are a number of things that anchor a team’s success like resources, a well catered for squad, but if you look at it most of the local teams don’t even pay players’ salaries. I am lucky to have lasted long at Hwange because I work with administrators who appreciate how football is run,” said Dube.

Masomere, who has coached a number of local clubs in the PSL, was rather scathing in his assessment.

“Eighty percent of the club administrators we have are unqualified, they do not have an open mind and are not eager to learn.

“If you ask them what is stalling the development of our game they will tell you it’s the coaches but in my view that is stupid thinking.

“These people are giving us a raw deal and until or unless they change their approach we will not achieve anything,” said Masomere.

The trend is not exclusive to clubs as it has also rubbed on to ZIFA.

Just at the beginning of last year, Ian Gorowa was a darling of the local game when his local ensemble of the Warriors stormed to the semi-finals at CHAN 2014.

But all this changed when he failed to make it past the preliminary round of afcon qualifiers, falling at the hands of Tanzania.

While Gorowa cannot be absolved of letting down the nation, the mother body also did not do enough to ensure qualification and thus should have honourably joined Gorowa in exiting the scene.

Locals need to take a cue from their international counterparts where continuity appears to be a common denominator at many clubs.

Arsene Wenger is nearing two decades as Arsenal manager despite the London club having last tasted league success over a decade ago.

European giants Borussia Dortmund are languishing in relegation with a paltry 15 points after 17 rounds of fixtures but manager Jurgen Klopp will clock seven years in charge of the eight-time Germany champions because management fully understands their problems are bigger than Klopp’s tactical shrewdness or lack of it.

Closer home in South Africa, the turnover is similarly higher as not even one top flight league coach has been with the same club for over three years.

The longest serving there is Kaizer Chiefs’ Stuart Baxter, who is in his third season at the trailblazing Amakhosi having joined in May 2012.

The amazing Guy Roux

Frenchman Guy Roux, the coach who gave Benjani Mwaruwari his European breakthrough in 2002, is regarded as the longest serving football manager of all time having coached French side AJ Auxerre for over 40 years.

Roux played for AJ Auxerre between 1952 and 1961 and was appointed manager of the then third division club in 1961 becoming its living legend and symbol.

With Roux in charge, the team was promoted to Ligue 1 in 1980. The team then went further to clinch the Ligue 1 title in 1995-96 and win the Coupe de France four times (1993-94, 1995-96, 2002-03, 2004-05). Among AJ Auxerre’s highs under Roux was also a UEFA Cup semi-final appearance in 1993.

Roux managed Auxerre between 1961 (initially as a player-coach) and 2005 with a short interruption in 2000-2001.

During his period, the team established itself as a powerhouse in French football and became known worldwide as an academy for top players, since it was the club where football stars such as Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Djibril Cisse and Philippe Mexes won themselves a name being spotted and their talent further developed by Roux.

After 44 years in charge of the club, Roux retired in June 2005 and was replaced by Jacques Santini. — Wires/Sports Reporter.