Too many coaches in South Africa have an inflated opinion of their own worth Andrew Muchineripi Coaches of Castle Premiership clubs have got to rank among the most arrogant and overrated members of the highly paid, highly pressured group anywhere in the world. They all speak with such authority on the beautiful game, although precious few have any qualifications worth boasting about, and even fewer bother to improve themselves by
attending courses overseas. When the team wins, it is put down to the fact that the boys followed instructions from the coach. When the team loses, it is put down to the fact that the boys did not follow instructions from the coach. So simple. So stupid. And so many members of the electronic and print media fall for it every week. Hook, line and sinker. What instructions were followed, or not followed? That is what we need to know. When the coach of a Gauteng-based Premiership club recently complained to this humble scribe about the woeful finishing of his strikers, I listened attentively, then posed a seemingly obvious question. As coach, surely you are responsible for teaching members of the squad how to shoot accurately, I replied. If looks could kill, the Muchineripi household would be without its chief breadwinner this weekend. It was as if I had asked him to expand on the origins of glaciers.
He, rather reluctantly, accepted I had a point before explaining that the shooting was improving with the ball now landing slightly nearer the goalpost than the corner flag. And this man is no palooka. Far from it. I would rate him among the best six coaches in the Premiership, and his team are capable of beating any opponent when on song.
The arrogance of many coaches stems from the fact that they are successful with squads so strong that you or I could probably assume control and garner league points on a regular basis. To me, the true test of a coach is to put him in charge of a squad other than Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates or Sundowns. To put him in charge of a club where problems cannot be solved by waving a chequebook and poaching.
It is all too easy. Discover that Bloemfontein Celtic or Free State Stars or Lamontville Golden Arrows have a potential star, approach the player (often illegally) and make him an offer he cannot refuse. Given that some clubs pay their players peanuts (despite clubs being guaranteed more than R200 000 a month from the Premier Soccer League), you cannot fail to get him – if your wallet bulges. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this practice, and it happens all over the world. But most of our coaches are not shy to tell everyone how they discovered/created the player. Take Ted Dumitru of Manning Rangers, for example. The self-appointed high priest of Premiership coaches is never shy to let you know how good he is and how bad many of his fellow coaches are. Development is a favoured word of Uncle Ted, a fiftysomething Romanian who has achieved the rare honour of being in charge of the Big Three with contrasting fortunes. True, he did win the Premiership twice at Sundowns. True, he did win some trophies at Chiefs. But success eluded him at Pirates, both domestically and in Africa. But pray tell me, Ted, which youngsters you developed at Sundowns, or at Pirates? Methinks not too many. But the proverbial proof of the pudding will come at not-so- wealthy Rangers. It is only fair to record that he has lost several players, including often-inspiring goalkeeper Grant Johnson to Orlando Pirates, and there is talk of captain Sipho Ndzuzu wanting out. So there is some unhappiness at the club. Nothing strange, really, as all the millions of pounds at English Premiership club Chelsea could not prevent a rift between Gianluca Vialli and his squad that led to chair Ken Bates asking the coach to move on. Dumitru now has a chance to prove that he is a genuinely good coach by restoring morale at the Mighty Maulers, producing satisfactory results, and developing young talent.
Should he succeed, Dumitru will rise far above another self-confessed super coach, Victor Bondarenko, in my eyes. Bonders was relatively successful at Pirates, but made little impact at Bush Bucks. Unless, that is, one counts avoiding relegation as success with a team that used to be consistently among the top eight in the land. Sorry, Bonders, but a coach who can only work with stars cannot be considered great.