Should we hire foreign or local coaches?

The ManicaPost

IN the aftermath of the heroic deeds by the Warriors last Sunday, it is time to reflect on the role of foreign coaches in Zimbabwe’s quest to be a powerhouse in the African game and how local coaches, against all odds make it to the coveted finals.
Calisto Pasuwa was about to be ejected from the Supersonic jet, but common sense prevailed as he was reinstated barely two days the announcement had been made to the effect that he had been shown the exit door by the powers that be.
This follows hot on the heels of the brouhaha of the Portuguese gaffer, Paulo Jorge Silva who was shown the exit door at Dynamos recently.
Here was a foreign coach who promised heaven on earth and for the soccer club and its soccer fans who lost the championship to Chicken Inn last year after a four year stranglehold, Da Silva’s words were sweet news to them.
Five games down the season, the executive and fans were impatient with the man ‘with the Midas Touch’ whom they quickly showed the exit door when he failed to get maximum points in three games.
What is it that foreign coaches have that local ones don’t have? What are the characteristics of a good coach? Does someone have to be a European or South American to be imbued with those characteristics?
South Africa’s PSL has many foreign coaches, but of late, local coaches have given them a run for their money. Pitso Mosimane is a case in point as he led his expensively assembled side, Sundowns, to the league championship. He coached Bafana bafana before he tried his hand in club coaching and so far his bosses are not complaining but the moment results stop coming don’t bet against the owner not casting his nets wider to Europe in search of a foreign coach.
Sundowns have had many a foreign coach but it struggled to capture the PSL championship.
Stuart Baxter, the former Kaizer Chiefs’ mentor, is coaching Supersport now which at one time had Gavin Hunt as the coach. Apparently, South African clubs love exotic coaches and the culture is slowly embedding itself in Zimbabwe when one looks at Mark Harrison, the former CAPS gaffer and the recent gaffer when Dynamos, the most supported soccer club in the nation, employed what many neutrals believe is a novice at coaching at the highest level, Da Silva.
At the 2008 African Cup of Nations championships, 12 European coaches led African teams. It appears there is a dearth of coaching talent in Africa. Is it true?
A blogger wrote at that time: “You can’t always buy success with a mercenary European coach, but you can build for the future with an African coach.”
Do African FA’s have such patience? No, they want instant success. As a result, the Tom Saintfeit of this world move from one country to another and get obscene salaries that are pointless when you look at the level of soccer in that country they leave at the end of their reign.
The country again looks for a foreign coach after the sacked foreign coach has failed to steer the country to the World Cup. Foreign coaches are not miracle workers by any stretch of the imagination. If they are so good, why is it that top clubs European clubs are not after their signatures?
Titi Camara, the former Liverpool great, coached his native, Guinea, and was shown the exit door when results dried up and he said: “My pay demands were not met because I am black and African.”
This is an indictment on the African FA’s who disregard pay equilibrium between foreign and local coaches, notwithstanding the fact that their local coaches can deliver what the foreign coaches can do. In this case, Camara’s pedigree as a footballer cannot be faulted, but his coaching acumen could have been enhanced through the help of the football association of Guinea.
The local coach offers personal connections and investment as he understands the cultural nuances of the players, while the foreign coach offers objective outsider perspectives thereby bringing innovations and vision; as a result, the cutting edge of the game is realised.
In the Da Silva debacle, it is a truism that he could have brought another dimension to coaching and playing football to the club judging by what the fans said after FC Platinum edged Dynamos for the first time recently. They said Da Silva’s football was entertaining although the team did not win many games. Perhaps, that is where the cutting edge to soccer dynamics can be talked about.
Local coaches understand the culture of the club; thus, many clubs turn to their former sons to coach them. Liverpool had that tendency of turning to a former ace like Kenny Dalglish and Roy Evans, among others, but it abandoned that tradition when its fortunes continued to make nosedives. Today, Liverpool has not even appointed an English coach, but a German in the form of Jurgen Klopp. Times have changed and our clubs are embracing the global village by employing foreign coaches.
Kina Phiri, the Malawian coach who was axed after a string of poor results lamented the African syndrome.
“. . .our mentality makes us think that foreign coaches are the best. . .” he said.
Interestingly, a number of local coaches in Africa did splendid work as mentors of their country’s national teams and we fail to appreciate that local is lekker.
Shihata, the Egyptian national team coach, was instrumental in the country getting a treble of titles at the African Cup of Nations between 2008 and 2012, a feat that no foreign coach had been able to achieve anywhere in Africa.
When Cameroon bagged an Olympic soccer medal, they were under a local coach, Jean Paul Akono. Since then, they have struggled at the Olympics. Similarly, Zimbabwe had local coaches, Sunday Marimo and Charles Mhlauri who led the nation to the 2004 and 2006 Africa Cup of Nations although we have had a plethora of foreign coaches who floundered at the last hurdle. For all his popularity, Reinhard Fabisch, did not lead Zimbabwe to the Promised Land.
It is true that no team has won the World Cup with a coach who is not native to it.
Sven Goran Erickson, the Swede, who coached England at the 1998 World Cup finals in France would testify how despite having a talented squad, he could not lift the trophy and exited at the quarter final stage.
It is back to the drawing board for African clubs and Football Associations but we may have to take a look at what makes a successful coach.
Stephen Keshi (may his soul rest in eternal peace) won the African Cup of Nations as a player and coach.
Qualities of a good coach
A respectable trainer of coaches, Bill Cole, says successful coaching involves a lot of dimensions but at times, luck plays a part in the success of teams. Moreover, the players at the disposal of a coach may contribute towards the success or lack thereof of a team.
Successful coaches care deeply about their players. One immediately recalls how Reinhard Fabisch constantly asked for winning bonuses for his players and how because of that motivation, the Dream Team scaled dizzy heights and came within a whisker of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. Refreshingly, players concentrated on playing rather than griping about bread and butter issues. Gone were the days of Moses Chunga saying he could not play for peanuts.
The question is, can the local coach fail to care for his players as much as a foreign coach does? Peter Nyama, Shepherd Murape, Obadiah Sarupinda and a host of other local coaches, if supported by the local football chiefs, could have spurred the team to success.
Top notch coaches have incredibly high personal standards and ambitions. Da Silva set the standards for Dynamos and I am sure the interim coach, Lloyd Mutasa, also wants to succeed, but he has to be supported by the executive and the fans.
Very god coaches have a high knowledge of self-knowledge; that is reflected by their coaching badges. In this respect, ZIFA is doing the right thing by insisting on Premier League coaches having to have a minimum qualification before sitting on the bench.
Mutare City Rovers is a living example. After the loveable Kenny ‘Bokande’ Kachara, was relegated to the assistant coach’s role owing to low qualifications, the team’s fortunes have improved. Knowledge is the sine qua non of teaching and coaching is imparting knowledge that one has. Foreign and local coaches can acquire that knowledge. Sunday Marimo had a one month training stint in Brazil to learn more about the beautiful game.
A good coach has to have high emotional intelligence; coaching is man management. For a coach to manage his/her players, that emotional intelligence comes into play.
Communication is the life blood of a coaching system. It is he writer’s view that local coaches have an edge over foreign coaches. Without appearing to demean our players, a European language is alien to them. Because of that, it’s possible Da Silva could have had problems making sure that his players understood his tactics. It is very well to say the language of soccer is universal but it is my contention that miscommunication occurs more often than not between a foreign coach and players with disastrous consequences for the nation.
Coaching, like teaching, is a calling, an art and a discipline. Mercenaries have no reason to be coaches because they are interested in money. Do you think a foreign coach would have countenanced the treatment Pasuwa experienced at the hands of ZIFA? Mark Harrison called it quits when he realised CAPS’ finances were bad. It just shows how local coaches may do things out of love for their club or country.
The goal of great coaching is to guide, inspire and empower players to realise and develop their full potential. With the little time that foreign coaches have with our clubs and national teams, it is inconceivable that a foreign coach can help a soccer club reach very good potential given that they normally stay in a country for a short period of time.
Wieslaw Grabowsk, the Polish coach, was one foreigner with a passion for Zimbabwean football and that is shown by his producing soccer gems even when he had been axed from the national team. Such men and women are rare.
Dynamos are not the last club to wish to have a foreign coach to revive its soccer fortunes. When all is said and done, is it worth it?
Are local coaches not good enough to propel a club forward?
Don’t we have local coaches with those qualities that made great coaches such as Sunday Marimo, Peter Nyama, Ashton Nyazika, Barry Daka, among others.
The perennial question remains just like on which one is better between an egg and a chick. Who is better-a foreign or a local coach?