African coaches deserve respect

Lazarus Sauti

If football administrators in Africa show respect towards indigenous coaches, the continent would fare better in continental and international competitions.

Lack of respect and the belief that foreign coaches are better than Africans are partly to blame for shoddy performance of African teams in competitive competitions.

 

Most football bosses across the African continent also lack patience and fire African coaches in favour of expensive expatriates who drain the bleeding coffers of most associations.

This lack of patience almost saw Steve Keshi lose his job as the Super Eagles coach just five months into it.

 

He is now the best coach in Africa after he helped Nigeria to clinch the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations trophy.

Keshi became the second man after late Egyptian Mahmoud El Gohary to win the tournament as player and coach and the first Nigerian to guide the Super Eagles to the title.

 

Commenting on African bosses’ lack of patience, Keshi said: “It is a shame that in Africa when an African coach is coaching the team, he is never given time like a European coach. 

“You are not given time to develop and do something bigger. They give you the job today, tomorrow you should build a wonderful team and the next day they want you to win the World Cup.

“It is impossible. If only they have more patience then African teams might improve. There is lots of talent in Africa but the problem is that the coaches are not given enough time to fulfill their potential.” 

Given the same respect rendered to foreigners and opportunity to build their teams, African coaches can achieve more in terms of development and results. It is sad to note that African coaches are viewed as inferior to their whites’ counterparts.

 

Keshi said: “I have said it before that only an indigenous coach can do the job without acting like a mercenary.

 

“It is not as if the whites cannot do the job, but most times the foreign coaches we see here are not more qualified than the indigenous coaches. They just get the jobs because of their colour and not due to their ability.

“It is a shame that when an African is coaching the national team nobody wants to give him the time, but when it is a foreigner they allow him the opportunity to work on his team. I hope that will change because I need time to finish this job and make the Eagles super again.”

The respect bestowed to European coaches over African coaches has stunted growth of African football.  

 

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has hit out at what he sees as the unequal treatment and lack of respect shown to African coaches leading national teams.

Appiah said: “There is no difference between a foreign coach and a local coach but the thing they tend to get is respect. The management shows respect to the coach, the media shows respect to the coach and automatically the players follow.”

Football administrators should know that if they give local (African) coaches the job; they should also give them time. The problem with most African federations is that they do not have time and patience for African coaches but they have it for foreigners.

 

Appiah added: “A local coach needs support when things are not going well. You need people behind you saying you can do it. But in the case of a black coach, there are so many people who will turn around and say: ‘We said you could not do it. You are nothing.’ They try to bring you down.”

Credit should be given to South African Football Association, Kirsten Nematandani for having faith in and retained Gordon Igesund despite him failing to meet their mandate. Igesund now knows the team a bit better.

 

The media also puts so much pressure on African coaches. Instead, it is the duty of the media to inform football administrators that the dependence on expatriate coaches is not the panacea to problems facing the development of the African game.

 

The African media should expose the greedy of foreign coaches. Foreign coaches are only interested in enriching themselves. 

Former Zimbabwe national team goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar once said: “Expatriate coaches come here for the money; they take the money and go.

“They are practically gold digging. It is the same as in old time in Africa, the colonials came here and took the money, went back to Europe.”

It is how time we should shrug off the colonial hangover and start believing in ourselves. Former AC Milan forward George Weah once told the media, “We have to believe in ourselves, believe in our people. Give them the support to be trained and to develop our teams.”

 

Honestly, most football teams in Africa have failed to improve under foreign coaches and there is nothing to suggest that they will ever improve.

 

The Confederation of African Football needs to wake up; we need an institution for coaching in Africa. Our people do not need to go to Europe; they need to stay in Africa and train.

 

The success of Steve Keshi should not only be the Nigerian success story but it should be an African success too.

 

African bosses should appoint local coaches and support them. African coaches are capable of achieving more as was demonstrated by Keshi.