Highlanders; The Technical Advisor

(Bosso Tshilamoya)

I joined the Highlanders Football Club technical team as Technical Advisor in 2001, and, compared to my predecessors, I was too young and had had too much success too early, and the whole deal became disastrous.

Amongst many memorable times, one of my greatest moments at the Club was a match against local city rivals, Amazulu Football Club. We beat Usuthu at Luveve 4-2 coming from 0-2 at half time, in one of Bosso’s best ever games.

During my short stay at Bosso as the TA, we won two trophies after we beat Dynamos twice within weeks of each other. 

It was a Dairiboard Charity Cup at Barbourfields Stadium and the Independence Cup at the National Sports Stadium of Harare.

I am very proud of the achievements of the development program that produced Honour Gombami and Malala among others. During my stay, Mkhokheli Dube and Gilbert Banda were fast maturing and it is fulfilling to see where they are now.

Johannes Ngodzo played his worst football then because he was a Highlanders and then a Railstars player while I was the coach there before he joined Bosso again. He had refused my attempts to keep him with the Sporo men.

In reuniting with him at Tshilamoya, the feeling of guilt hindered his game despite my assurances and encouragement. He could only get his touch back in years to come. 

The upcoming team of that time had potential to move mountains like the famous Liverpool. I proposed that we form a Division 2 football then to afford the youngsters competitive football on a weekly basis. It sounded ridiculous then, to have two Highlanders teams registered in different leagues, according to the team manager, Ernest Sibanda Maphepha. I am glad the system is in operation now.

Working with Kenedy Ndebele, Liqhwa Gama and Isaac Mlilo under the leadership of Mangwana Tshuma was a rewarding experience. There was never a single moment that salaries were not paid on time.

Professionalism was at its best, but the technical team did not measure up to the standards in terms of following the plans and schedules. Everyone was paid their friendly matches appearance fees at the stadium. For international matches, the payment was in cash and 3 days before the travel dates.

That was efficiency at its best. The support given by Nhlanhla Bahlangene Dube and Onius Ndebele of Computon was encouraging. They assisted players with their personal needs in their personal capacities.

I had tremendous support and a great relationship with ‘abadala bempankeni’ (elders from the groove), the Board members. They were very encouraging and of course, humorous.

In a different world and at a different time I could have served Bosso in a telling way. I have a conviction that I could have won Africa Champions League with that team and management. I really do. With Captain Fantastic, Thulani Biya Ncube, the first player ever to captain the club team, Under 23 national team and the senior national at the same, the leadership on and off the field strengthened the personal playing attributes of everyone in the team and the dressing room.

I still harbor the ambitions to do so. Time will tell and that is a story for another day.

I have no regrets at all and I learned quite a lot very fast. There was no boring moment and the camping was always a comedy show. The spirit was very good and the unity amazing. Siza 'Nkinko' Khoza always kept everyone in stitches at camp. There were strong characters like Richard Dabuka Express Choruma, Blessing MaGuma Guma Gumiso, Charles Chief Chilufya.

Who can forget Eddie Dube, Melody Nkalakatha Wafawanaka, Gift Thebe Junior, Britto Gwere and Tapuwa Kapini amongst others?

Having a Brazilian mentality of periodisation and sticking to the book at all times, trying to influence a local process purely based on playing experience, was very uncomfortable with our own established set up. 

I compromised on my principles and began to see my appointment as a long-term strategy for the club. And how wrong I was. It lasted 6 months.

My perfectionist attitude did not help much and my high expectations of the Highlanders set-up was very unrealistic. More often than not, success gives the impression that there is progress, but for me success and progress are different, and I was looking forward to getting both simultaneously.

Highlanders won several titles and a few attempts in the African Champions’ League before my arrival at the club. I had watched the latest botched attempt against Cameroon’s Sable de Batiethat was played at the Barbourfields Stadium.

I watched with a lot of interest and analysed it as much as possible and passed my thoughts to the technical team. From that match, I knew it would not be easy to change the fortunes of the team overnight. Exactly 12 months later, I was appointed Technical Advisor and the story was the same. 

As before, this was a home-brewed disaster, many people crossing the bridge before we got to the river. There is no substitute for proper preparation.

The greed of taking the glory of leading the team to Canaan was the war between the technical department, which I was supposed to lead, and the Executive Committee led by late Retired Colonel James Mangwana Tshuma.

The two of us led our camps that had underlying currents, as both our second-in-command did not tango well with each other. In the technical team, the problem was magnified by the fact that Rush needed to take my advice, but he was solely responsible for the team performance and results and had the final say. He made it clear I understood that.

I had acquired a high-level Advanced Diploma in Brazilian Football, of which Professors Carlos Alberto Pereira and Julio Cesar Leal were some of the lecturers. It is not an Advanced Diploma for nothing, and it is not a chance that the Brazilians have won the FIFA World Cup a record six times, and every other football competition in this world.

Other prominent lecturers in that course included Professors Neto Esphezim, Paipfer Lula, Alberto Lancetta and Sebastiao Araujo who wrote many books and played alongside Pele and Mario Zagallo in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

I really enjoyed a great deal in all the road shows, and the full stadia everywhere we played. I had influence and leadership at promoting Railstars Football Club from the Division One with Barry Daka in 1997 and those moments brought so much joy and satisfaction. 

In between, I formed a Division Two football academy KFA after purchasing Joseph James' Thorngrove status. In 38 matches, we scored over 100 goals and amassed over 100 points but Olivine won the promotion. That Academy produced Farai Zidane Mujokoro.

At the end of my tenure, I was physically and mentally drained and Delma Lupepe asked to assist Jerry Mafripa (MHSRIP) but I could not take up the offer. Lupepe always wanted me to work with Charles Mhlauri at Amazulu before I joined Bosso, but his management team did not play ball and I do not regret I chose Mantengwane.

Do people still sing Mantengwane?

German supremacy vs Africa demise

(Is Germany willing to share success recipe?)

This is a game of football, simplified by playing and complicated by coaches. In Africa, this is not true. Football administrators stuff things up, big time.

Are Africans football bosses "dataproof" or just allergic to information? Maybe simply put, they are dead dumb. Their vision is extremely blurred.

This is not surprising given the civil war on the continent. As long as wallets are lined up, all can suffer all they want. 

Football can rot to its satisfaction, to its heart's content. No wonder the game of talented players is a laughing stock to the world. It is no coincidence.

This calamity is a grand design perpetuated by the greedy and unscrupulous leaders with little or no fibre or bone of shame in their frames.

Remember the tired and wasted government to government agreements to develop football in Africa by Germany? Where is Germany today (2014 Fifa World Champions and 2017 Fifa Confederation Cup finalists) and where is Africa (turmoil and developmental regression)?

South Africa got Horste Kriete  and Zimbabwe got Reinhard Fabisch in the mid and late 1990s. Namibia had Jochen Pigge and Klaus Starke. This is an example of many in Africa.

What was the role and importance of these characters? To make Africa great again. Look at the Germany national team, then and now. Look at their development structures and the coach education.

Either they have fake things or Africans are utterly stupid. If not, Cameroon or any other African team was supposed to face Germany in the 2017 Confed Cup this weekend.

Go to Germany schools and see the qualifications of those who coach the children. They all play the same way as the national team. Compare that to the South Africans.

How many Germans have UEFA A and South Africans with CAF A? Enough of that. We will discuss another day.

I do not believe an adversary can prepare another for their benefit. Let us assume the Germans had Africa interests at heart. They gave their manpower and resources for free. 

Why did Africans fail to learn? We are assuming they got super education and means. I have no doubt of the ability of African players and coaches. I mention coaches because African coaches go to Europe and excel in UEFA C, B, A and Pro courses and even better their counterparts performances.

It may have seemed harsh to say our administrators have thick skulls, but how else can one explain it? Please enlighten us if you can. And can football superpowers really share relevant fresh up to date information with Africans because they know Africans are harmless mentally?

Let us use my theory that Europeans are out to murder African football by feeding the coaches and players with poisonous tactics and knowledge. How else would they approach this? Sponsor a detrimental and outdated obsolete program and keep plummeting the opponents to a football pulp.

African players possess the potential to undo any science and artificial tactics and plans. African coaches have not been given enough chance, resources or salaries to execute their duties as much as European counterparts. 

Until that happens, judging them is extremely unfair. In any case, less brainy or less qualified coaches are preferred by the big fish because they can manipulate them and give them less money.

That cycle can be repeated until another leader with a strong appetite for corruption takes office. 

Meanwhile, let us acknowledge the great development structures the Germans put in place. One can see the fruits of this young team at the 2017 Russia Confederation Cup. This team, besides the results, is dynamic, full of oomph, tearing down teams and going places.

All the best Die Mannschaft.

Fifa must introduce Intercontinental championships

(www.fifa.com)

Imagine Africa versus  Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania, South America or the Middle East in a world cup tournament. Fifa must introduce the Fifa Intercontinental World Cup a year before the Fifa Confederation Cup, making it a year after the Fifa World Cup.

This is the only way that Africa may compete on equal footing and have a fair chance to compete. Of course, CAF will have to improve, and given that Issa Hayatou has been toppled by Ahmed Ahmed, I believe the new broom has proved better already.

Africa always produced world beaters, some justifiably changing allegiance for socio-economic reasons. The best of African players in the world forming a superpower is not a wild dream. It is possible.

For Africa to make its mark, they will have to do this independently, with the Afro identity of African football of flair and artistry. 

One remembers the 1998 France World Cup. To some, it was Africa's World Cup win as once prophesised by Pele -  that an African team would win the Fifa World Cup before the year 2000. The French team had a fair share of players of African origin but France is in Europe.

While the current crop of Africans in the top leagues does not inspire much confidence to the likes of Rabah Majer, Yusuf Fofana, Roger Millar, Lucas Radebe, Bruce Grobelaar, George Weah, Peter Ndlovu, Kalusha Bwalya, Benni McCarthy and Didier Drogba, there is a new crop which includes Riyad Mahrez and Emerick Aubemayeng.

Making it to the Africa 11 would excite both elite players and prospective internationals.

Who makes your Africa 11 today?

The African football debacle

Maybe South Africa, Mali, Zambia, Burkina Faso or Zimbabwe could have won the 2014 Brazil FifaWorld Cup, had they hired Joachim Loew, Alejandro Pasella or Louis van Gaal. I am certain The Super Eagles of Nigeria or The Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire could have been champions if they stayed, played and worked in Germany under Joachim Leow since, at least, 2002.

You can take to the bank the fact that Phillip Lahm, Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer and crew could have delayed their flight to Brazil for the World Cup and fought on the pitch, had they been under the banner and authority of Cameroon Football Association.

 

Lionel Messi, Higuain, Mascherano, Lavezzi and the squad could have received their money sent from Accra by plane, had they been under the control of Ghana. I am under no illusion that Stephen Keshi, John Appiah, Gordon Igusand or even Keutsepilemang Ndebele for that matter, could have reached the final of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil with Die Mannschaft under the Germany administration.

 

Where lays the African football problem?  Regardless, all African coaches lose their jobs in preference to the knowledgeable and expensive expatriate coaches. The African football system is sinking. One learns from the best, the champions.

Germany today rules the world football today because of a class of players they manufactured. I handed over a programme to identify and nurture some talent for the 2006 and 2010 Fifa World Cup to some country’s association as a thirty year old some years back. I still have copies, but as you as well know, they are now as useful and cryptic scrolls with the language of the aliens.

All countries claim to have developmental structures and programmes; South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia included. Mzansi have a fair share of structures in place, but these are very much mediocre and unproductive. The funding is satisfactory but it could be better. The problem is that not many people who need to be hands-on are involved. The other issue is that the programme promotes events than processes. Information dissemination is really bad.

In Zimbabwe, the structures are solid and one can easily put their fingers on the pulse, from schools to the clubs. Organised school programmes cater for all according to their abilities to deliver. Clubs depend on these development sides they call juniors to usher new talent. Few lazy teams get to the market every now and then while their products are supped by the other teams who cannot afford to splash cash.

Some clubs find themselves answering calls from suitors each year. Potential superstars are known and their ripe date gets eagerly waited. The weekly fixtures, results and logs are available for the public at the Notice Boards at the offices, in the print media, electronic media and social networks. Hence, the influx of players to the ABSA Premier League, and most of the imports from there have dominated the league.

The story is almost similar in Namibia and the common factor with Zimbabwe is limited funding. One walks into the national office and requests the database with regional players in all age groups.

The regional structures have a direction to follow, although few still need further persuasion. Lack of implementation is one thing, and availability another. The structures are there, and the people have access to what they need. People on the ground may lack the motivation to work, but they are aware what to do and where to seek help. Above all, that help is available. The availability of information in South Africa is a cause for concern.

Players identified in tournaments the previous year fade into oblivion the following year. Few privileged ones, not necessarily the best, due to the geographical or social proximity, will always be in the limelight. These get to centres of excellence or the High Performance Centre. There is no class of players expected to be the ‘real Bafana Bafana’ of tomorrow. This system causes players get discovered at 23, 25 and even 27.

At 17, it is too late to be ‘discovered’. Players must be identified and grilled at 6, 8 or 10. The only way to keep track of them is to have a useful database and keep following until they are national team material and keep coaching the national philosophy, that is, how they are expected to play as national team players. The national game gets a brand and identity style of play from that early age.

In this context, as all clubs around the world know, there is an understanding of the general change of heart and lack of interest by the youth as they pass through adolescence. Some decide against pursuing football and prefer other sports, other stop sports altogether and specialise in academics to be doctors, lawyers and the like. The associations and clubs incur expenses for a lost cause in such cases, but weighing the pros and cons, they are better expecting the best in each case.

All said and done, the data information should ever be available to the public, parents and coaches for case studies, for developmental use, for training relevant personnel, sourcing of sponsorship and many other reasons. The future superstars get used to being popular and abosb the pressure of playing in the big stage early. They tend to be better hometown heroes and locals eagerly await their arrival and watch them in stadia.

As it is, many top league teams in South Africa play in empty stadia. Nobody ever knows the involved players, as they are not part of the known community. DJs are more popular than players are. Yet the country claims football is a religion.

Someone elsewhere is happy with the calamity and debacle of the African game. Few will celebrate a true African champion. The plastic smiles will hide the resentment of the coming of age of the sleeping giant. It can be confirmed that this is one sleeping giant that will never wake up, thanks to its own people.

Messi will be number 4 for a long time.

Lionel Messi has a very long way to go to be the best footballer of all time, even number 3. Messi of Argentina, won the highest individual footballing honour for the 3rd consecutive time last week, a feat achieved by fewer that 5 players and at this rate, one he may achieve once more, as long as his team stays tops and Cristiano Ronaldo remains arrogant, (I seem to be the only person admiring the Portuguese's attitude and that is his undoing to many.) but it will take his take him far more effort to get in touch with the Top 3 Footballers of the all time.

Barcelona are the team of the decade by far, domestically and in the UEFA Champions League, out doing themselves over and over and I am not about to praise them any further. After all, it is not so long ago that I told you about the beginning of their end. Many took it that I meant that Real Madrid are a better team in comparison. Madrid have been better, of course, after the arrival of Jose Mourinho. 

The protracted verbal war and psychological warfare that boardrooms and racial slurs characterised The Special One's arrival in Spain but things calmed down as teams went into business. Now, Barca are wilting and Lionel Messi is proving to be human.

There was a time that I think he has measuring up to Zinedine Zidane, because I think Zizou is the greatest thing that happened to the game after Pele and Diego Maradona in that order. A few more seasons may see him getting there but he is running out of time. With what he has done and achieved, Argentina should have been FIFA World Cup champions. You may want to argue that World Cups are not a measure of everything and you are wrong.

Players like Pele, Maradona and Zidane had tremendous club success and their World Cups were cherries on top. No matter the glitter of any career from thence forth, if anyone can collect everything at once and fails at the World Cup, no one will remember their name.

The last generation of great footballers had one particular player, Eusebio. The Mozambican born Portuguese would have rated well alongside Pele, had he won a World Cup with Portugal. World Cups provide a platform for football patterns and evolution as well as player character.

Maybe also not so great in their clubs but so charismatic at the game were characters like Romanian George Hagi, a size 5 Number 10 who made football look so simple and had a tremendous shot. Hristo Stoichkov of Bulgaria is yet another great player of the World Cup. 

Why I bring these names forth, Messi has not mad much impact for Argentina as these have made for their countries during their prime. In that mix you could add Davor Suker of Croatia and Michel Platini of France. These players made huge impacts on the game for both the tournament and their countries.

As of now, Messi is so ordinary and by passion, is ranked amongst these. As for the actual influence of results, there is just so much ground to cover and I think he is running out if World Cups. Since 2014 FIFA World Cup is in South America, it may be his time t come out of the closet and be counted, but there will be Neymar of Brazil to compete with.  

Messi may not need to really win the FIFA World Cup, but at least to set it alight, to make his presence felt at least may be enough to secure a and seal a Top 4 position, but as for the actual Top 3, he needs to do what Pele did in 1958 in Sweden, Maradona in Mexico '86 and Zidane's France '98 at least. These men had to deliver the magic even in the actual final, and it was not the finals that made them great. They were already tops and the wizardry of the last games of the World Cups became the seal of approval. 

Why Are There No Black Managers In The Top Leagues?

WARMING:I am not pulling any punches here. If you have issues with race or lingo stop reading this. We live in very hypocritical times of our lives with unrealistic disorders to pacify each other, stroking our egos to justify the shortcomings caused by the evils we indulge in. There are words regarded too strong, rights enjoyed by the sinful, behaviour acceptable regardless of the opinions of others, norms cool only to the perpetrator, dress codes with minimum material or shifted waistlines and outrageous lifestyles that caused fire to rain in biblical times being promoted as rights. Parents can now be genderless.  

The world's top players are black, and not just because of the exploits of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o or Michael Essien. There has been a good number of blacks in the past, from Pele to Eusebio. This is not to say there has not been outstanding white counterparts as you may as well know of Hungarian Puskas of the Pele era. A few of the other whites of those days were over-rated though.

Within living memory range, John Barnes, Stan Colymore, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Paul Parker, George Weah, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele, Frank Rikjaard and Rudd Gullit were some of the best blacks in the business. They played during the era of Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, David Ginola and Peter Schmichael. Without looking at the numbers, the scale of balance is even.

This will obviously be supported by the fact that from 1974 when Zaire was beaten 9-0 at a FIFA World Cup to a point Cameroon were cheated from a semi-final berth against England in Italia '90 and freshly, Ghana being Suarezed off the semi-final in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, Africa and blacks have been more acceptable much less than their ability but as a way of pulling off cheap political mileage by FIFA, clubs and individuals.

Pele is famous for having predicted an African team winning the FIFA World Cup before the turn of the century. Pele, the World's best player ever and a true legend was basing his naive opinions on merit alone. He looked at football as a game and at black players as masters of football. While that fact is proven, the reality is that Africans are actually the slaves and not masters when it comes to the beautiful game. Africa will never be allowed to win the World Cup unless there is a huge point to score by the organisors. There will not be a FIFA World Player Of The Year. Theirry Henry should have been one at one point. FIFA can ask the captains to recite or read the 'FIFA Fair Play code against racism', but frankly, how many times have we seen that happen followed by monkey chants the following week when black players take to the pitch? These are actually a result of the superiority of the black players.

You will remember how France dominated the game in the 1998 -2000 era. That was a window that showed the world what Africa can do, given the right resources and fair chance. I am not saying France is Africa, but we will not be naive enough and bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know the African element in that squad. The whites did not like it and from there on, there was deliberate efforts to throw spanner in the works up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France totally collapsed and the white world was happy.

It will be hard to ask for fair playing ground and harder because if you ask, who will have to grant it. As blacks, we may need a few things to take our levels up. It is easier and simpler in athletics, where if you are Jessie Owens, you can sprint across a finish line and then Hitler can decide not to shake your hand, but all people saw the sprint. If you are Mohammed Ali, it may be harder as you will need a referee who may not be black, then you will be motivated to plummet your opponent to a pulp. Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt and the William sisters all had to grind their results in contrasting fashions. In individual sports, there is not much suppression and manipulation of results is not easy.

Actually, my point is, with the all the black talent in football, how come there is not even one black coach or Manager of note in top flight football in the UK, Serie A, La Liga or Bundesliga? Paul Ince has been trying to match his white counterparts, namely Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pierce, just to name a few, without breaking into the Premiership. We can talk of Rikjaard and Gullit from La Liga and the Premiership respectively, but look at the ratio. Is the race issue so bad that professional football players will not hearken to black mentors, and is it the reason why African football associations are so colonised they will not trust their own black coaches to coaches national teams, even if they are paid less and produce better results?

In an ordinary day, I would feel this article is offensive to white or non black people, and this is exactly the mentality that has made many people and nations failures. In the quest to be polite, they lost the plot and sank. Frankly, black people are their own first huddle, especially Africans. The 'white is cool' mentality has not taken us anywhere but down. I guess if someone screws you and do so that you keep smiling, there is no reason to ask them to stop. Worse with us, we screw ourselves, and hard.

Why Are There No Black Managers In The Top Leagues?

WARMING:I am not pulling any punches here. If you have issues with race or lingo stop reading this. We live in very hypocritical times of our lives with unrealistic disorders to pacify each other, stroking our egos to justify the shortcomings caused by the evils we indulge in. There are words regarded too strong, rights enjoyed by the sinful, behaviour acceptable regardless of the opinions of others, norms cool only to the perpetrator, dress codes with minimum material or shifted waistlines and outrageous lifestyles that caused fire to rain in biblical times being promoted as rights. Parents can now be genderless.  

The world's top players are black, and not just because of the exploits of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o or Michael Essien. There has been a good number of blacks in the past, from Pele to Eusebio. This is not to say there has not been outstanding white counterparts as you may as well know of Hungarian Puskas of the Pele era. A few of the other whites of those days were over-rated though.

Within living memory range, John Barnes, Stan Colymore, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Paul Parker, George Weah, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele, Frank Rikjaard and Rudd Gullit were some of the best blacks in the business. They played during the era of Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, David Ginola and Peter Schmichael. Without looking at the numbers, the scale of balance is even.

This will obviously be supported by the fact that from 1974 when Zaire was beaten 9-0 at a FIFA World Cup to a point Cameroon were cheated from a semi-final berth against England in Italia '90 and freshly, Ghana being Suarezed off the semi-final in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, Africa and blacks have been more acceptable much less than their ability but as a way of pulling off cheap political mileage by FIFA, clubs and individuals.

Pele is famous for having predicted an African team winning the FIFA World Cup before the turn of the century. Pele, the World's best player ever and a true legend was basing his naive opinions on merit alone. He looked at football as a game and at black players as masters of football. While that fact is proven, the reality is that Africans are actually the slaves and not masters when it comes to the beautiful game. Africa will never be allowed to win the World Cup unless there is a huge point to score by the organisors. There will not be a FIFA World Player Of The Year. Theirry Henry should have been one at one point. FIFA can ask the captains to recite or read the 'FIFA Fair Play code against racism', but frankly, how many times have we seen that happen followed by monkey chants the following week when black players take to the pitch? These are actually a result of the superiority of the black players.

You will remember how France dominated the game in the 1998 -2000 era. That was a window that showed the world what Africa can do, given the right resources and fair chance. I am not saying France is Africa, but we will not be naive enough and bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know the African element in that squad. The whites did not like it and from there on, there was deliberate efforts to throw spanner in the works up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France totally collapsed and the white world was happy.

It will be hard to ask for fair playing ground and harder because if you ask, who will have to grant it. As blacks, we may need a few things to take our levels up. It is easier and simpler in athletics, where if you are Jessie Owens, you can sprint across a finish line and then Hitler can decide not to shake your hand, but all people saw the sprint. If you are Mohammed Ali, it may be harder as you will need a referee who may not be black, then you will be motivated to plummet your opponent to a pulp. Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt and the William sisters all had to grind their results in contrasting fashions. In individual sports, there is not much suppression and manipulation of results is not easy.

Actually, my point is, with the all the black talent in football, how come there is not even one black coach or Manager of note in top flight football in the UK, Serie A, La Liga or Bundesliga? Paul Ince has been trying to match his white counterparts, namely Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pierce, just to name a few, without breaking into the Premiership. We can talk of Rikjaard and Gullit from La Liga and the Premiership respectively, but look at the ratio. Is the race issue so bad that professional football players will not hearken to black mentors, and is it the reason why African football associations are so colonised they will not trust their own black coaches to coaches national teams, even if they are paid less and produce better results?

In an ordinary day, I would feel this article is offensive to white or non black people, and this is exactly the mentality that has made many people and nations failures. In the quest to be polite, they lost the plot and sank. Frankly, black people are their own first huddle, especially Africans. The 'white is cool' mentality has not taken us anywhere but down. I guess if someone screws you and do so that you keep smiling, there is no reason to ask them to stop. Worse with us, we screw ourselves, and hard.

Why Are There No Black Managers In The Top Leagues?

WARMING:I am not pulling any punches here. If you have issues with race or lingo stop reading this. We live in very hypocritical times of our lives with unrealistic disorders to pacify each other, stroking our egos to justify the shortcomings caused by the evils we indulge in. There are words regarded too strong, rights enjoyed by the sinful, behaviour acceptable regardless of the opinions of others, norms cool only to the perpetrator, dress codes with minimum material or shifted waistlines and outrageous lifestyles that caused fire to rain in biblical times being promoted as rights. Parents can now be genderless.  

The world's top players are black, and not just because of the exploits of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o or Michael Essien. There has been a good number of blacks in the past, from Pele to Eusebio. This is not to say there has not been outstanding white counterparts as you may as well know of Hungarian Puskas of the Pele era. A few of the other whites of those days were over-rated though.

Within living memory range, John Barnes, Stan Colymore, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Paul Parker, George Weah, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele, Frank Rikjaard and Rudd Gullit were some of the best blacks in the business. They played during the era of Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, David Ginola and Peter Schmichael. Without looking at the numbers, the scale of balance is even.

This will obviously be supported by the fact that from 1974 when Zaire was beaten 9-0 at a FIFA World Cup to a point Cameroon were cheated from a semi-final berth against England in Italia '90 and freshly, Ghana being Suarezed off the semi-final in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, Africa and blacks have been more acceptable much less than their ability but as a way of pulling off cheap political mileage by FIFA, clubs and individuals.

Pele is famous for having predicted an African team winning the FIFA World Cup before the turn of the century. Pele, the World's best player ever and a true legend was basing his naive opinions on merit alone. He looked at football as a game and at black players as masters of football. While that fact is proven, the reality is that Africans are actually the slaves and not masters when it comes to the beautiful game. Africa will never be allowed to win the World Cup unless there is a huge point to score by the organisors. There will not be a FIFA World Player Of The Year. Theirry Henry should have been one at one point. FIFA can ask the captains to recite or read the 'FIFA Fair Play code against racism', but frankly, how many times have we seen that happen followed by monkey chants the following week when black players take to the pitch? These are actually a result of the superiority of the black players.

You will remember how France dominated the game in the 1998 -2000 era. That was a window that showed the world what Africa can do, given the right resources and fair chance. I am not saying France is Africa, but we will not be naive enough and bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know the African element in that squad. The whites did not like it and from there on, there was deliberate efforts to throw spanner in the works up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France totally collapsed and the white world was happy.

It will be hard to ask for fair playing ground and harder because if you ask, who will have to grant it. As blacks, we may need a few things to take our levels up. It is easier and simpler in athletics, where if you are Jessie Owens, you can sprint across a finish line and then Hitler can decide not to shake your hand, but all people saw the sprint. If you are Mohammed Ali, it may be harder as you will need a referee who may not be black, then you will be motivated to plummet your opponent to a pulp. Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt and the William sisters all had to grind their results in contrasting fashions. In individual sports, there is not much suppression and manipulation of results is not easy.

Actually, my point is, with the all the black talent in football, how come there is not even one black coach or Manager of note in top flight football in the UK, Serie A, La Liga or Bundesliga? Paul Ince has been trying to match his white counterparts, namely Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pierce, just to name a few, without breaking into the Premiership. We can talk of Rikjaard and Gullit from La Liga and the Premiership respectively, but look at the ratio. Is the race issue so bad that professional football players will not hearken to black mentors, and is it the reason why African football associations are so colonised they will not trust their own black coaches to coaches national teams, even if they are paid less and produce better results?

In an ordinary day, I would feel this article is offensive to white or non black people, and this is exactly the mentality that has made many people and nations failures. In the quest to be polite, they lost the plot and sank. Frankly, black people are their own first huddle, especially Africans. The 'white is cool' mentality has not taken us anywhere but down. I guess if someone screws you and do so that you keep smiling, there is no reason to ask them to stop. Worse with us, we screw ourselves, and hard.

Why Are There No Black Managers In The Top Leagues?

WARMING:I am not pulling any punches here. If you have issues with race or lingo stop reading this. We live in very hypocritical times of our lives with unrealistic disorders to pacify each other, stroking our egos to justify the shortcomings caused by the evils we indulge in. There are words regarded too strong, rights enjoyed by the sinful, behaviour acceptable regardless of the opinions of others, norms cool only to the perpetrator, dress codes with minimum material or shifted waistlines and outrageous lifestyles that caused fire to rain in biblical times being promoted as rights. Parents can now be genderless.  

The world's top players are black, and not just because of the exploits of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o or Michael Essien. There has been a good number of blacks in the past, from Pele to Eusebio. This is not to say there has not been outstanding white counterparts as you may as well know of Hungarian Puskas of the Pele era. A few of the other whites of those days were over-rated though.

Within living memory range, John Barnes, Stan Colymore, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Paul Parker, George Weah, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele, Frank Rikjaard and Rudd Gullit were some of the best blacks in the business. They played during the era of Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, David Ginola and Peter Schmichael. Without looking at the numbers, the scale of balance is even.

This will obviously be supported by the fact that from 1974 when Zaire was beaten 9-0 at a FIFA World Cup to a point Cameroon were cheated from a semi-final berth against England in Italia '90 and freshly, Ghana being Suarezed off the semi-final in the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, Africa and blacks have been more acceptable much less than their ability but as a way of pulling off cheap political mileage by FIFA, clubs and individuals.

Pele is famous for having predicted an African team winning the FIFA World Cup before the turn of the century. Pele, the World's best player ever and a true legend was basing his naive opinions on merit alone. He looked at football as a game and at black players as masters of football. While that fact is proven, the reality is that Africans are actually the slaves and not masters when it comes to the beautiful game. Africa will never be allowed to win the World Cup unless there is a huge point to score by the organisors. There will not be a FIFA World Player Of The Year. Theirry Henry should have been one at one point. FIFA can ask the captains to recite or read the 'FIFA Fair Play code against racism', but frankly, how many times have we seen that happen followed by monkey chants the following week when black players take to the pitch? These are actually a result of the superiority of the black players.

You will remember how France dominated the game in the 1998 -2000 era. That was a window that showed the world what Africa can do, given the right resources and fair chance. I am not saying France is Africa, but we will not be naive enough and bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know the African element in that squad. The whites did not like it and from there on, there was deliberate efforts to throw spanner in the works up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France totally collapsed and the white world was happy.

It will be hard to ask for fair playing ground and harder because if you ask, who will have to grant it. As blacks, we may need a few things to take our levels up. It is easier and simpler in athletics, where if you are Jessie Owens, you can sprint across a finish line and then Hitler can decide not to shake your hand, but all people saw the sprint. If you are Mohammed Ali, it may be harder as you will need a referee who may not be black, then you will be motivated to plummet your opponent to a pulp. Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt and the William sisters all had to grind their results in contrasting fashions. In individual sports, there is not much suppression and manipulation of results is not easy.

Actually, my point is, with the all the black talent in football, how come there is not even one black coach or Manager of note in top flight football in the UK, Serie A, La Liga or Bundesliga? Paul Ince has been trying to match his white counterparts, namely Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pierce, just to name a few, without breaking into the Premiership. We can talk of Rikjaard and Gullit from La Liga and the Premiership respectively, but look at the ratio. Is the race issue so bad that professional football players will not hearken to black mentors, and is it the reason why African football associations are so colonised they will not trust their own black coaches to coaches national teams, even if they are paid less and produce better results?

In an ordinary day, I would feel this article is offensive to white or non black people, and this is exactly the mentality that has made many people and nations failures. In the quest to be polite, they lost the plot and sank. Frankly, black people are their own first huddle, especially Africans. The 'white is cool' mentality has not taken us anywhere but down. I guess if someone screws you and do so that you keep smiling, there is no reason to ask them to stop. Worse with us, we screw ourselves, and hard.