NPL coaches under pressure

THE exit of Brian Isaacs as coach from Orlando Pirates this week signalled the growing pressure coaches face in the domestic league, to either deliver or ship out.

This season alone has seen eight coaches joining new clubs, a trend prompted by the pressures placed on them by club owners and in some cases supporters who are insisting on winning at all costs.Isaacs was offloaded last week already and confirmation was made this week.He follows in the footsteps of others such as Willem Kapukare, Tollie Van Wyk, Dawid Snewe, Bobby Samaria, Gilbert Rwasoka, Dove Fransman, Ali Akan and Ronnie Kanalelo who have all made movements this season locally.This season was possibly the busiest in terms of coaches moving from one club to another, while at the same time they produced a host of mixed results that either compromised their status or are benefiting the teams.The current Namibia Premier League (NPL) requires coaches to win as many matches as they can as it has become extremely competitive.Sponsorships for clubs and new owners who are investing heavily have upped the standard and quality of play and they are looking for dividends in terms of good results.With the league going to the wire and only six matches left for most of the teams, there is no guarantee of winning the league outright or being spared relegation.Despite starting strongly at the start of the season, Isaacs dropped 14 points in four losses and four draws that saw his team sliding down to sixth position in the league.As title holders, the Pirates management saw the danger coming when the team failed to win consistently since early this year. That saw the arrival of Dawid Snewe.Snewe was hired from Mighty Gunners (another premiership side) as technical director, but the move was a diplomatic one aimed at slowly edging out Isaacs.Isaacs did however not jump ship and insisted to stay on despite a vacancy at his former club Black Africa, which was left by Tollie van Wyk.Van Wyk replaced Kanalelo on a temporary basis before he was re-hired by his old club Ramblers and still, Isaacs did not see the need to approach the BA management to hire him.Despite having the two men at the helm, Pirates still struggled to maintain their status at the top and slowly started moving down the rankings.Meanwhile, BA chairman, Kanda Paulino brought in Ali Akan from South Africa’s lower-division side FC AK, shutting out all hopes of Isaacs making a move.Tension between the players and Isaacs was growing, especially at training, while management was uneasy about the dual coaching role. Supporters became impatient as the results were not convincing.Another coach, Willem Kapukare, was released by Tigers due to poor results and has since found a new home at Hotspurs, where he is now fighting the relegation axe.Tigers coach Page Ananias and his assistant Rusten Mogane are currently trying to pull the side from the fire as they are third from the bottom and tied on 15 points with Hotspurs.Hotspurs and Mighty Gunners are certain to face the axe as they have only three and six points respectively to their credits from 16 matches.Bobby Samaria, who was hired by African Stars at the beginning of the season late last year, remains under huge pressure as he is expected to win each match.His fantastic run of 12 consecutive wins came to an end and the pressure is still piling up as the supporters are now used to winning and refuse to accept defeat.So it goes with Eleven Arrows coach Gilbert Rwasoka, whose team has drifted further down the ladder and is now in fifth position after a great run earlier this season.Arrows have now lost five matches and will hope to consolidate on their home matches to end among the top.Domikus Kornelius has been in charge for three games at Oshakati City now and his main aim is to keep the team away from the relegation zone. The youth development coach has done well so far, while at the top, SKW co-coaches Lucky Kakuva and Rolf Beiter are tasked to take three points in each game no matter who their opponents are.corry@namibian.com.na