Spot the coach

THE Cell One NFA Cup goes to the wire this weekend and all systems are geared for the quarter-finals, which are billed for both Windhoek and Walvis Bay.

But with all the hype already in the air, the pressure is mounting on the players and especially the coaches.
Considering the fact that this is the biggest cup competition in the country, no team, from the last eight would want to leave any room for error. Mind you, there is N$500 000 at stake for the winner in the end.
Today, I will dwell on the frustrations and the pressures that coaches go through in their careers
Coaches in Namibia (at least in my opinion) are hugely underpaid and the expectations that are put on them are simply too high.
The expectations from the management in most premiership teams are unimaginable and that can be seen by the rate at which coaches got hired and fired this season.
Of course, the point is, if you don’t produce results, you get fired.
A dozen premiership coaches swapped jobs, while some are nowhere as they were shown the door by their clubs.
The firing part is easy, but little do we know how much planning goes into getting the desired results.
Coaches plan training sessions firstly, apart from devising strategies their players will employ for the next match. They study the tactics, style of play, strengths, weaknesses and everything that goes on in regard to their opposition.
They also assess their players’ abilities and based on that, draw up their line-ups.
They surely know that the biggest challenge is out there on match day for their charges to perform and win at all costs.
For this weekend, coaches of the eight teams involved in the Cell One NFA Cup, will have to produce results.
To get the results, they have to deal with the decisions of the referees which go against them at times, players who do not carry out instructions and fans who are screaming for substitutions, as if they are in charge.
They have to win because if they don’t, the fans will be upset, the management will be angry and the players will be disappointed.
Worst maybe is the questions they face after the match on what went wrong. They have to think of a barrage of excuses or plainly admit that they lost through their pathetic defence or careless goalkeeper.
But if a team wins, as everyone knows, this man is pushed into the background and the player who scored the winning goal, gets all the attention.
The fans talk endlessly about the players and how beautiful and flowing play was, forgetting that the coach and his assistant planned all this from their training grounds. That is what they are supposed to do anyway.
But the point is, clubs and team owners do not value and appreciate Namibian coaches for their efforts.
The Namibia Football Association (NFA) gives little recognition by sourcing input from some of these men into the national teams, despite putting them through several courses to sharpen their skills.
Coaches in Namibia surely have a great ability to spot talent, can deliver the results, but are not respected, let alone paid decently.
Domestic premiership coaches have time and again proven themselves to be competent enough for the national team for example.
Bobby Samaria, Ricardo Mannetti, Brian Isaacs, Ronnie Kanalelo are among the many competent coaches who have great abilities, but still, no one cares a damn.
They have plainly been overlooked over the years as the national association views foreign coaches as credible, arguing that the local lads do not have the same qualities. That issue is debatable.