And who among you readers does not know that coaches are the first people to be whipped, abused and fired every time a club performs badly?

Without permitting my mind to run amok, I could even envision how some club officials rehearse among themselves how to roast their coaches.

The first to be peppered with hot chilly and fried was Oris Radipotsane at BMC. The club portrayed him as the epitome of a bad coach. He was accused of failure to instil discipline and to produce positive results.

He was said to have made the team to play boring and dour football. For lack of a better derogatory word, he was appalling. Apparently, as the newspapers reported, Oris' was appointed first on patriotic reasons and not because he was good. He is a Motswana and the club had grown weary of employing foreign coaches. He had been on a three-month probationary period, which actually made it easier to get rid of him if he does not perform.

The sacking developed into a nasty blame game with Oris firing back that unethical and unprofessional things are going on at BMC. He had little regard for the officials and stopped short of telling them to allow sane and experienced people to take over as they had overstayed their welcome. What irked him most was their sickening mind-set to show antipathy towards change. This bickering and nasty exchange emerged following the club's loss to Premier League rookies Killer Giants of Ramotswa. So much about BMC.

Enter Mochudi Centre Chiefs. The team's new coach was smeared with spice and grilled by a top-ranking club official. His sin was leading Chiefs to a 2-2 draw with lightweights, Jwaneng Comets. The Zambian was told on his face that he must up his game because sharing the spoils with the likes of Comets constitutes a loss. What was Comets supposed to do? Take to the pitch, and say to themselves: "Chiefs are a big side that has been doing well for quite some time. We are a bunch of new guys in the Premier League and we will come to the game like sacrificial lambs and allow Chiefs to slaughter us?" No chance.

Football is not like that. Roasting a coach who is hardly two months into the job in a foreign country is not right. The Chiefs' tactician is trying to find a winning formula and slamming him for drawing with a freshly motivated side teeming with talented young players is a bit arrogant and devoid of logic. What happened to the concept of respecting the opposition?

The language of football is often nuanced and subtle and mostly never explains in detail about things said. What do BMC officials mean when they say most people in their club never supported the appointment of one of Botswana's football legends as a coach? Why did they persist in appointing him still? Did they support him, help motivate the team and get an explanation for the poor results before beheading the coach? Did both Chiefs and BMC suddenly realise the stakes were high? "They didn't play like there was P1 million to be won," said a BMC official.

Title-winning coach Mike Sithole at GU was next on the firing line. He had overseen a wretched team beaten by new kids on the block, Motlakase. News that filtered through following that disastrous result was that, the entire GU administrators told him to shape up or ship out.

He was advised to exercise some restraint and stop getting keyed up with new signings and instead field his title - winning side. When GU made amends and skinned Boteti Young Fighters the following week, there was a spirit of deja vu at the club. Officials felt vindicated. Now there is an air of sanguinity at GU that a new page has been turned and the Reds will retain the title. But, if GU slips again, you can expect the coach to be turned into a nice salted and spiced braavleis!

Football is a cruel sport. We only look at a coach and disregard everything else. Everyday administrative blunders rock our clubs. Often poor administration leads to player dissatisfaction. Players are often not paid and given incentives. We put so much faith in juju and create confusion and when we are faced with a counterattack, we give vent on coaches and to a lesser extent, players. It is a sickening situation.

In most instances, the interference from officials is so distinct that one wonders why the focus is always only on coaches. Perhaps the administrators, who reckon they can do better should apply to be coaches.