Two apply for Warriors coaching job

THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) has so far received two applications for the coaching job for the Brave Warriors, its technical director Seth Boois confirmed yesterday.

Boois told The Namibian Sport that they are expecting the number of applicants to increase from next week, as the deadline for the position is set for February 17. He could, however, not reveal the names of the applicants, saying that the names would first be forwarded to the NFA executive committee before it is made known to the public.Boois could also not say if the two were Namibian or foreign coaches.”All I can say is that we also received a lot of queries from coaches beyond the Namibian borders, with some calling in from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa,” he said.The Namibian national team has been without a coach since April last year, the last time the team played under Tsumeb-based Max Johnson, who doubled as the mentor for premiership side Chief Santos.Johnson was only assigned to take the team through the Cosafa Castle Cup, but failed at the first hurdle as the team was ousted by Botswana on penalties at the Independence Stadium.This year, Namibia is in Group C of the Cosafa Castle Cup alongside Zambia, Malawi and Seychelles.Namibia will have the advantage of playing in front of their home fans as they take on Seychelles in their first match on July 22.They will play the winner between Zambia and Malawi the following day, provided they beat Seychelles.It will be the third time in a row that Namibia will have the home advantage, after they hosted Botswana twice and lost both games.The inactivity of the Brave Warriors since April last year has largely contributed to Namibia’s downwards trend on the Fifa world rankings.Asked whether it would be better for Namibia to have a local or foreign coach, Boois said he preferred a man who could do the job at hand.”I would prefer a well-qualified coach who will make a difference.The difference should be to move us forward.That means a person who can let the team start winning matches.That is the most important thing,” he said.Namibia has been repeatedly knocked out of all the regional and continental qualifiers for the past eight years and the changing of coaches over the years had a bearing on this.The most visible problem was that local coaches were recycled too many times, with each coming in with a different squad, leading to inconsistency and as a result bringing in poor results.Namibia has become the laughing stock of southern African football, as countries such as Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi have gone miles ahead of them in terms of development programmes and have over the years built formidable sides, despite the Brave Warriors being the superior side in the late 90s.Boois could not say if an assistant coach will also be appointed, but insisted that they were looking into the situation.Sources at Soccer House say the position of assistant coach will most likely be filled by a Namibian on the instruction of the executive committee immediately after the appointment of the national coach.There is no specific date when the national team coach is expected to assume duties, but Boois says that would be done well ahead of the Cosafa Cup in July, as the new gaffer is expected to take the team to training camps to Europe and possibly to Brazil.Boois said it would be important for the new coach to at least go past the first round in the Cosafa Cup, a move which he thinks will give hope to Namibian football in general.Boois also revealed that he has forwarded a list of nine individuals whom he thinks should sit on the interviewing panel once the application date has expired.”The names have been forwarded to the presidency and they will consider to shorten the list or add to it.The individuals are from a broad spectrum of society and range from football experts to other sports and business personalities.”The interviews, according to Boois, will be done in the week after the deadline for applications, depending on the availability of the chosen panellists.He could, however, not reveal the names of the applicants, saying that the names would first be forwarded to the NFA executive committee before it is made known to the public.Boois could also not say if the two were Namibian or foreign coaches.”All I can say is that we also received a lot of queries from coaches beyond the Namibian borders, with some calling in from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa,” he said.The Namibian national team has been without a coach since April last year, the last time the team played under Tsumeb-based Max Johnson, who doubled as the mentor for premiership side Chief Santos.Johnson was only assigned to take the team through the Cosafa Castle Cup, but failed at the first hurdle as the team was ousted by Botswana on penalties at the Independence Stadium.This year, Namibia is in Group C of the Cosafa Castle Cup alongside Zambia, Malawi and Seychelles.Namibia will have the advantage of playing in front of their home fans as they take on Seychelles in their first match on July 22.They will play the winner between Zambia and Malawi the following day, provided they beat Seychelles.It will be the third time in a row that Namibia will have the home advantage, after they hosted Botswana twice and lost both games.The inactivity of the Brave Warriors since April last year has largely contributed to Namibia’s downwards trend on the Fifa world rankings.Asked whether it would be better for Namibia to have a local or foreign coach, Boois said he preferred a man who could do the job at hand.”I would prefer a well-qualified coach who will make a difference.The difference should be to move us forward.That means a person who can let the team start winning matches.That is the most important thing,” he said.Namibia has been repeatedly knocked out of all the regional and continental qualifiers for the past eight years and the changing of coaches over the years had a bearing on this.The most visible problem was that local coaches were recycled too many times, with each coming in with a different squad, leading to inconsistency and as a result bringing in poor results.Namibia has become the laughing stock of southern African football, as countries such as Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi have gone miles ahead of them in terms of development programmes and have over the years built formidable sides, despite the Brave Warriors being the superior side in the late 90s.Boois could not say if an assistant coach will also be appointed, but insisted that they were looking into the situation.Sources at Soccer House say the position of assistant coach will most likely be filled by a Namibian on the instruction of the executive committee immediately after the appointment of the national coach.There is no specific date when the national team coach is expected to assume duties, but Boois says that would be done well ahead of the Cosafa Cup in July, as the new gaffer is expected to take the team to training camps to Europe and possibly to Brazil.Boois said it would be important for the new coach to at least go past the first round in the Cosafa Cup, a move which he thinks will give hope to Namibian football in general.Boois also revealed that he has forwarded a list of nine individuals whom he thinks should sit on the interviewing panel once the application date has expired.”The names have been forwarded to the presidency and they will consider to shorten the list or add to it.The individuals are from a broad spectrum of society and range from football experts to other sports and business personalities.”The interviews, according to Boois, will be done in the week after the deadline for applications, depending on the availability of the chosen panellists.