Coaches queue for Flames job
Coaches from Africa and Europe have instantly queued up at FAM’s doorstep hoping to be considered as replacements for released Flames coach Young Chimodzi.
Former Burkina Faso’s Portuguese mentor Paulo Duarte, ex- Zambia and Zimbabwe coaches Honour Janza and Ian Gorowa respectively, have reportedly made inquiries, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda claimed yesterday.
Additionally, The Herald newspaper reported yesterday that FAM was eyeing Zimbabwe mentor Calisto Pasuwa whose tactics suffocated the Flames into a 2-1 defeat in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations of Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Nyirenda could not entirely dismiss the report linking the job with Pasuwa whose manager Gibson Mahachi is quoted as saying “the coach has shown his love for his country and there are very few people who could work under the same conditions that he has worked all these months and, be, in it Cameroun or Malawi, he has shown everyone what he is capable.”
The FAM GS insisted that a technical report by consultant Andy Dell will inform the technical committee in the attributes they are looking for in the next coach.
“I have chatted with him [Pasuwa]; I always do. I have also chatted with Janza, Ian and Duarte who called finding out when we will advertise the post. If the Zimbabwe coach applies, he will be considered. We want a coach who can inspire the team tactically. He [Pasuwa] showed that he is a good coach technically and tactically,” Nyirenda explained.
FAM has since engaged government over the new coach. Nyirenda admitted that they had simply, as requested by government, recommended that they be done with the coaches and government will decide whether to redeploy them elsewhere or let them go.
Sports director in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports Jameson Ndalama yesterday said they would wait for FAM’s recommendation to decide whether to release them entirely or recall them for other duties as was previously the case when they redeployed them as regional football development officers.
Seasoned scout Ben Chiwaya suggested the hiring of a foreigner who can improve on tactics “and have a local to understudy him.”
He said: “We have tried all locals. Jack Chamangwana and Young were the cream we had.”
Former Flames team manager Stewart Mbolembole yesterday said, while he does not buy the idea of hiring foreigners, the current football environment would only suit an expertriate as there are the only ones capable of being allowed to work independently.
