Published by the government of Zimbabwe
3 October 2008
opinion
Harare — THE Herald has noted with concern the relentless savage attack on the integrity of its sportswriters, in particular, and our coverage of football issues in general by former Warriors coach Charles Mhlauri.
We have found it disappointing that Mhlauri has seemingly gone into overdrive, using his position as a columnist for The Sunday Mail, to question the professionalism of the sportswriters on this newspaper.
While we acknowledge that our sportswriters are not immune to criticism, being human beings, we are, however, concerned that Mhlauri's attacks have become personal and appear to be driven by a wild agenda to try and settle scores with these journalists.
Mhlauri appears to believe that the reason why he was axed as Warriors coach has little to do with the poor results that resulted in the team's failure to qualify for the 2008 Nations Cup finals but everything to do an agenda driven by our sportswriters.
We took the initial bombardment in our stride because we believed that it comes with the territory of being in the public domain but, of late, the personal nature of the attacks have led us to respond.
We respect Mhlauri as a young and developing coach and his two back-to-back league championships at CAPS United are enough proof that he has the right brains when it comes to football coaching.
We also respect him as an individual who is always striving to improve his coaching knowledge through attendance at various international coaches around the world.
We also appreciate the fact that he worked under very tough conditions at Zifa but we are also prepared to look at the other side of the story and reveal the KEY point that these were also the same conditions when the Warriors qualified for the 2004 and 2006 Nations Cup finals.
But we understand that we have a right, as critics, to believe that Mhlauri FAILED when he was handed the responsibility, on his own, to take our national football team to a higher level and our journalists are not the only ones who believe that.
Even if our journalists tell him that he was a success, which he appears to demand in his articles, statistics will not change the fact that the Warriors DROPPED 48 places, in just 33 months, on the Fifa world rankings when he was their coach.
Even if our journalists tell him that he was the best coach who ever took charge of the Warriors, statistics will not change the fact that Mhlauri was WINLESS on the road since taking charge of the team in 2004.
Even if we tell him that he is the greatest, something that he appears to cherish, statistics will tell him that he was the FIRST Warriors coach to complete qualifiers for the Nations Cup finals without a win since the group matches were introduced two decades ago.
Even if we tell him that he is the Special One, something that he appears to like, it won't change the fact that by the time he was fired, the Warriors were on the brink of finishing bottom of their group for the FIRST time since the group matches were introduced.
Even if we tell him that he is our own Jose Mourinho, something that he dreams of, it will not change the fact that the Warriors did not win even ONE game when he took sole charge of the 2008 Nations Cup campaign.
It won't change the fact that under Mhlauri we played 30 games, we won just 11, drew seven, lost 12, scored 31 goals and conceded 33 to get 40 out of a possible 90 points.
THAT WAS A 44.44% FAILURE RATE and even if our journalists were to try and give the people an impression that he succeeded, these damning statistics would prove them wrong.
DeMbare and Mhlauri
When Dynamos appeared down and out of the African Champions League, with a visit to ASEC Mimosas looming, Mhlauri gave his own analysis of DeMbare's position.
His venom was directed at us simply because we had criticised the chaotic player registration exercise, the infighting at the club and some questionable substitutions done by coach David Mandigora.
On September 7, in The Sunday Mail, Mhlauri wrote:
"Due to non-existent policy to give comprehensive support to teams participating in the Champions League, Dynamos' FAILURE cannot be separated from our failing administration and developmental policies at Zifa.
"This clearly reinforces my belief that participation in the Champions League demonstrates the strength of the nation in as far as football is concerned.
"As Dynamos FAIL we are quick to see, among other reasons, the infighting and poor registration of players as part of the major factors leading to FAILURE to get to the final.
"Central to this we have seen how the decisions of the technical department have been brought up for debate and seriously questioned.
"THE LEVELS TO WHICH SUCH ISSUES ARE BEING DISCUSSED AS THE MAJOR CAUSES OF DYNAMOS' FAILURE REFLECT THE SHALLOWNESS OF OUR FOOTBALL COMPETENCE.
"I think to dwell on the above will be failing to see the bigger picture of our demise. We have a long history of botched-up player registration for the Champions League.
"Over the years we have almost witnessed similar problems. What has Zifa done about it? Again these clubs were victims of the system that left them with no time to prepare and resources so required.
"DYNAMOS DEBACLE IS A SERIOUS INDICTMENT OF OUR FOOTBALL AND CLEARLY WE NEED SOME SERIOUS ANALYSIS OF EVENTS HERE NOT TO TALK ABOUT MANDIGORA'S SUBSTITUTIONS."
Subsequent Developments
Dynamos went to Abidjan and beat ASEC Mimosas 2-1 and then beat Zamalek 1-0 at Rufaro to book a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Mhlauri's Reaction
So last Sunday, Mhlauri, faced with a Dynamos success story when he had written them off, decided to react.
"There is an increasing recklessness by some media sections in as far as information gathering is concerned and accuracy is concerned.
"This is evident when the stories no longer reflect what is on the ground and more often we have more important issues left out of the stories.
"The Dynamos SUCCESS story cannot be complete without mentioning the brilliant strategic decision by their executive and technical department to go to the DRC for preparatory games.
"They found it necessary to engage teams that have been or were taking part in the Champions League. This was, in its own right, historic."
So suddenly, in just less than one month, the gospel has changed from a DYNAMOS DEBACLE to a DYNAMOS SUCCESS STORY.
So what happened to that systematic failure in our football which Mlhauri believed, only last month, was the reason why Dynamos had failed in the Champions League?
What happened to that failure by our journalists to analyse critically which Mhlauri believed, only a month ago, was the reason why, in his own mind, Dynamos had failed this season?
What happened to his gospel that sound preparations were everything and without them there was no success now that Dynamos had done well with the worst possible preparations and with virtually no funding?
Of course, he has to find a way out and believes Dynamos' success if because of two friendly international matches in the DRC.
What a shame!
Maybe, being so far away from home and dependent sorely on what he reads and not what he sees, Mhlauri does not know that Dynamos had already beaten the defending champions Etoile du Sahel - home and away - by the time they went to the DRC for those friendly matches.
Maybe he doesn't know that coach David Mandigora, who makes the key decisions, was not even in the DRC for those international friendlies.
If the DRC friendlies were such important games, then why is it that TP Mazembe, the host of those matches, are not in the semi-finals of the Champions League?
Vindicated
To us Dynamos' success proves exactly what we have been saying that it's not all about great preparations and sound funding that makes champions in football.
Teams need to be organised, they need to have the ambition to win matches and they need to be strong and fight right up to the final whistle.
If money and sound preparations are everything, then why are Bafana Bafana in such a free-fall? Why is it that England have not won the World Cup since 1966 and why don't we have South African clubs in the Champions League semi-finals?
Why is it that Denmark, whose players were only recalled from holiday just a few weeks before the start of Euro 1992 to replace the old Yugoslavia, ended up winning the tournament?
The media must play its right role
That was the headline of Mhlauri's latest contribution in The Sunday Mail in which he returned with his attack, again directed at our journalists.
We will not respond to his venom but we will just let one reader of his column, who sent him an e-mail and copied it to us, to give his views.
His name is Ndabezihle Ndonda.
I have been following your articles in the Sunday Mail with interest. You seem to view football as a science whereby if A happens then B will occur.
I thought you should know better that money/best preparations does not buy/guarantee you success.
You have to want it to win it. A quick look at Amazulu, where you were once a coach, will prove you wrong.
I think you should understand that football is a combination of both.
Your article seem to be directed at or replies to issues raised by either Robson Sharuko or Lawrence Moyo/Herald. I personally feel you guys should grow up.
You are using state papers/space to settle your scores. While your articles show that you are still bitter about being fired for poor perfomances (points gained in comparison to other teams being the objectively verifiable indicators), Sharuko et al are still keen to prove that you were a failure.
One wonders how many months have passed since you were relieved of you duties.
The problem is your articles clearly reveal that you are a person in the denial stage that you failed.
I am tempted to also tell you that you were a success, if that makes you happy.
In all honesty, you are abusing your position as a columnist for personal & selfish reasons masquerading as national interest.
Your friends at the Sunday Mail do not help matters either. For how can you explain a situation where you have been writing all these articles since time immemorial. Are there new ideas that you have been adding?
Definitely there is no value addition in your articles anymore.
The law of diminishing returns has finally caught up with you. To help you understand what I am saying, please compile all your articles that you have been writing and read them.
You will see how you have been regurgitating the same issues now and again. At least now you see why we need a break from your articles. What is needed are fresh ideas from a wide spectrum of people. Not Charles MHLAURI every Sunday!
I do not know anything about your family/legacy but you should know when to stop/take a step forward/take a step backwards/jump otherwise you will go down in the history of football as the opposite of what you want.
You might be interested to know that for one to be considered by myself to be a coach par excellence (Zimbabwean standards) you should have attained the following:
1) Win the CAF Champions League at least twice OR
2) Win the AFCON at least twice
3) OR BOTH
So the rest of you, MHLAURI, MANDIGORA, MAPEZA, MASOMERE, CHUNGA, GUMBO, et al, you have a long way to go.
NB: I NOTED SOME BITTERNESS IN YOUR WORDING CONCERNING DYNAMOS' PROGRESS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAD WRITTEN THEM OFF AS HAVING FAILED IN THIS CAMPAIGN. YOU SHOULD BE MAN ENOUGH TO APOLOGISE TO THE SUPPORTERS. IN THIS CASE DID YOU PLAY YOUR MEDIA ROLE WELL? YOU RUN THE DANGER OF BEING WORSE THAN THE PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE CRITICISING - Ndabezihle Ndonda.
Conclusion
Mhlauri is clearly hurt by the criticism from this newspaper that he believes led to his dismissal as coach of the Warriors.
He tries to give an impression that our journalists are responsible for the Warriors' failure on the international football scene.
He tried to blame us when Dynamos was struggling on the continent and still tried to blame us when the team found its touch and powered its way into the semi-finals.
We believe he has a right to criticise us and we also believe we have a right to respond when we believe that he is becoming a little bit personal.
When we look around the world and see all those coaches being fired, including the Special One Jose Mourinho, we wonder what is so special with Mhlauri that, two years down the line, he is still trying to defend himself and point the blame on us.
We are left to conclude that Mhlauri has become the sort of person who is likely to celebrate if the Warriors and Dynamos fail -- all because that will suit his agenda to shift his failure from his own technical shortcomings to the media.
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