The Sunday Mail
Sir 18area.coms
THE sound of little men, assistant coaches in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, is getting on my nerves and when that happens, Yours Truly explodes. Why the hell are we hearing the voice of Tostao Kwashi instead of Lloyd Chitembwe, Thulani Sibanda and not Rahman Gumbo, and Xolani Mafikela and not Lizwe Sweswe?
It appears some top flight coaches are beginning to feel too important, too big to face the media, hence this squeaking sound of little men trying to sound big in the Press.
And all this is happening when the guys at the Premier Soccer League are busy getting obese; munching the out of town allowances they get every weekend.
There is a reason why you see that thin, all male pair out of the capital almost every weekend and it’s not for the love of the game.
You see the PSL always tries to put forward this professional side forward but Kenny Ndebele and his crew can be certified as a bunch of reactionaries. Facebook and Twitter administrators!
Coaches are supposed to avail themselves for pre and post match interviews even when the Supersport cameras are not present, we all know that.
But a sickening trend has developed over the past few weeks and the situation is made worse by Ndebele and his PSL secretariat failing to notice and nip this thing in the bud.
What is so special about Rahman Gumbo when even the multi-championship winning Pep Guardiola avails himself for post-match interviews?
Lloyd Chitembwe is not Jurgen Klopp and even if he were, the Makepekepe coach would still have been expected to face the media; it comes with the territory.
If our sports writers were organised this is one area they ought to have taken issue with. Even the sponsors have reason to take offence.
I have heard that some coaches have little regard for certain journalists because of past experiences – usually off the field – but that is no excuse, they have to face their demons.
You don’t have to like each other to work together.
Meanwhile, true to their reactionary form the PSL and their sponsors have tweaked the Soccer Star of the Year criteria to bring it closer to what is obtaining across the world.
It took some massive lobbying trust me.
All votes will now be made public so those football fans disguised as journalists have nowhere to hide. They will have to be answerable individually for some of their shocking calls.
Zimbabwe has the curse of journalists writing stories wearing their favourite team’s jersey underneath that Fourth Estate jacket.
Some shamelessly try to love Caps United much more than Farai Jere, try to care for Dynamos more than Kenias Mubaiwa and try to defend Bosso much more than Ndumiso Gumede.
Even the match reports take a celebratory tone when their favourite team wins, a simple tap in is described as glorious among other mischief.
Such an unfortunate state of affairs was beginning to threaten the integrity of the Soccer Stars of the Year awards.
Over the years our scribes voted with their hearts and we had such Soccer Star misfits as Murape Murape, Evans Chikwaikwai, Tawanda Mparati and Walter Tshuma to mention but four disastrous choices we have had in the past.
Thankfully it seems we will not be seeing these “Egyptians” again as the new regulations come into effect this year.
Sir exits the scene!
- Sir is social media commentator and writes this satirical column in his personal capacity. Feedback: [email protected]
