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Why The Zambian Coach must go!!!

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Zambia national soccer team coach Herve Renard talks to reporters after returning from Rwanda
Zambia national soccer team coach Herve Renard talks to reporters after returning from Rwanda

By Simunyola Benjamin

The Zambian National soccer team has been in the soccer lime-light for far too long without claiming any major continental cup apart from the COSAFA which now is failing them.

Concerned Zambians living in South Africa met yesterday (18/11/2009) to discuss the way forward for the National team. Mr. Isaac Kalilo Kahilu a Zambian Businessman based on Jules Street in Johannesburg calculated the team’s performance which has become a tradition with most of us, leading to the Angola African cup of Nations. “we played 6 games, scored 2 goals and allowed 6 goals .Against even better performing teams who scored better but we still couldn’t make it to the finals in Angola”, said Mr. Kalilo. “How will the team perform better in Angola when they have shown that they can’t score or defend?” he said, “no, we need to talk to the FAZ president and concerned football council staff to resolve this problem, this coach must shape up or GO!”

Mr. Javan Safeli a soccer developer and retired soccer player was also in attendance. “It’s sad that our team is not showing signs of scoring goals and winning the games in Angola, rest to win the cup”. Mr. Safeli said. “It’s strongly suggested that the coach and the FAZ staff consider this as urgent and strategize for a change”, he said.

Another Zambian supporter Mr. Tembo, a truck driver by profession was also present. “Why can’t these boys stay home and save Zambia the millions in wastage? We can use that money for other developments unlike this soccer crisis” Mr. Tembo said. “It’s embarrassing to see our National team every time losing even to unworthy teams like Rwanda”

The writer tried to get views from players based in South Africa whose phones where either off or not answered. Mr. Kalilo Isaac tried to phone the FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya who is believed to be staying in Johannesburg, but the phone was off.

The meeting called for the head of the coach, who they claimed sidelined players. During the meeting an attendee phoned the Zambian High Commission in South Africa to seek an intervention. However, the commission offered no help as they referred him to another Sports council official in Zambia.

The Gathering come-up with this probable line-up, failure to which the Coach and his FAZ cronies should find their way to their farms;

1. Kennedy Mweene 2. Joseph Musonda 3. Mbola 4. Chintu Kampamba 5. Elijah Tana 6. Moses sichone 7. Felix Katongo/ James Chamanga 8. Andrew sinkala/ Isaac Chansa 9. Jacob Mulenga/ Singuluma 10. Christopher Katongo/ Noah Shivuta 11. Clifford Mulenga. Bench; Kalaba, Billy Mwanza, Ian Bakala, Kalilo kakonje, Nyerendah.

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

65 COMMENTS

  4. this coach has failed to give goals, he has failed to coordinate good players that he has, if you ask me i say he has no play strategy. his play book has failed us. So either he goes or he should come up with a better game plan

  5. This is another blackhall that is swallowing money. We’re better off with local coaches getting reasonable money unlike “foreign exchange” fees being paid now without tangible results. Kalusha Bwalya has proved to be a failure no doubt with his FAZ executive. Train our local coaches abroad if need be and have a nursery of players to groom for a targeted international tournament.

  7. The truth is that the Coach has no powers over selection of players. FAZ decides who plays.One would not be surprised to find out that this meeting was actually organised by Kalu himself who now has no basis of firing thecoach because of interference from FAZ. The FAZ executive must resign with immediate effect. The fact is Kalu does not like Andrew, Moses and Tan – Full stop!!.

  8. While our African colleagues in the West continue to make huge strides in the popular sport, we are still basking in our past glory. Indeed, I am one of those people who still live and dream about how football used to be in Zambia in the mid to late 70s and early 80s. Watching the boys is more than painful to say the least. I had the opportunity to chat with the FAZ vice president this past weekend and, reading between the lines, one can tell that it will take along time for us to reach the level of being able to seriously compete for a place in the World Cup. We need to forget the past and start afresh; the grassroots should be developed with a deliberate attempt to tap talent all-over our beautiful nation. Football is a uniting sport, and let’s be serious about this marvelous sport.

  9. THE PROBLEM IS WITH FAZ AND NOT THE COACH. FAZ IS FAILING US THIS LUSHA WAS JUST GOOD AT KICKING THE BALL. NOT MANAGING THE AFFAIRS OF THE GAME. HE NEEDS TO BE MANAGED I THINK HE IS TOO MUCH OF A PLAY BOY . LOOK AT HOW HE GALAVANTES SHAME

  12. The problem with our national team is not with the coach. It has much to do with lack of sports infrastructure in the country. Also the ‘B’ sides have disappeared in nearly all the clubs. Lastly, the Kalusha administration leaves much to be desired. How can he run FAZ on remote from abroad. The entire administration should go, we start afresh and bring back the lost glory…

  13. NO blaming each other the problem is good for nothing. Simaata Simaata has got the answer on poor performance of National Team. The Zambian league in general is performing below par. You need to smoke ganja to pretend that all is well and render support to the local teams. Most fans have turned to TV scoccer. Why is it so? Ask yourself for answers. Score line on local league matches 1-0, 2-1 ,1-0 How do youn expect same players to do better at National Level. The coach does not kick the ball once the game is on. Let us be level headed bane.

  14. The problems Zambia is facing has it’s roots largely in FAZ .The performance of Renard and the National team is just a reflection of the poor football standards prevailing in the country.Even if Ferguson ,Wenger,Morinho or Patrick Phiri was brought in to coach the team,the performance will not be any different.
    FAZ has concentrated it’s efforts on national team football and completely sidelined local football.The quality of our players is determined by the state of the local football structures in place like the league,youth football,schools e.t.c..This is our major problem.Give Renard or Phiri a wide selection of good players to choose from. FAZ can’t guarantee that because they value international status more than local football.Kalusha and crew must first go before Renard is fired.

  15. Its amazing how otherwise intelligent people concentrate on symptoms of a problem without ever attempting to understand the problem.

  16. The way i see it, our league is not competitive compared to foreign leagues, just here South Africa, league games are played at weekends and also during the week, but here in Zambia we normally say it is difficult to have a professional league, but i believe that a professional league will not only result in competitive league, i also believe there will be increased investment in football. The way I see it.

  17. Would you imagine the “FAZ prezident” of say South Afrika, Congo DR, Nigeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Brazil or Madagascar living in a foreign country? Not that this iz the major cauze of the soccer problemz in Zambia, but just goez to show the circus and lack of seriousness being exibited. On “Talking Football”, 15/11/09, FAZ’s Mwamelo even had the guts to try and justify this walabaloo arrangement.

  18. We are tired ( Let me say I am tired) of this soccer business in Zambia. The Party and it’s Gov’t plus FAZ are to blame. Kalusha is just an ingredient of the malaise in administration. What sort of admin is this? They arrange for a national friendly match, that is when they want to hastly want to put up a marquee, you want to experience another disaster or what? Too many experiments have brought us where we are now? “BALI KUSOGOLO” do not seem to know what they are doing PERIOD. Let the Muzungu leave after his contract expires. We will tell you who should take over, OBVIOUSLY A NORTHERN RHODESIAN.

  19. Yes, the sacking of the coach is long overdue but it should not end there, Kalusha too must go, he has failed the nation for too long. He lives in South Africa, why can’t he get a job there and coach their national team?

  21. Tunisia missed the World Cup by a wisker, and immediately fired the coach. Zambia dishonorably sneaked to the Afirka Cup and we are still beating abut the bush with the coach. Do we have our prioritiez right?

  22. People just wait for the dual nationality thing to be approved. We shall then have great playing for Zambia. The future is bright for the motherland. Keep the faith!!!!

  23. Zambia was declared a Christian Nation by a thief Kafupi, so our Football team players are overcome by the values of mercy and “do to no one what you would not want done to you”, so they strikers do not score and we lose!!! Second: Even if Mourinho, Wenger or Fergusson came to coach Zambians, we would still lose, because our players have no skill, rarely use their brains on the pitch. Lets go back and begin everything from the local league.

  25. I think we should import Brazilians who have not yet played for their country and who have no feasible chance of playing for their country.

    We can promise them a chance to qualify for the next world cup if they could play for us in the qualifiers. They can remailn in brazil and even train there. I f they want, we can empoy a brazilian coach based there. WE just give them tickets and Zamia jersey,
    For cosafa, we can use local players

    I think it may work;

  26. This is why We can never progress. Should we sack the coach, because THE THREE DUMB MEN HAD A MEETING and decided that it will be the best thing to do. One is a retired football player we have never heard of, which means he is a failure. The other one is a businessman who has no football knowledge, and the other guy should just stick to truck driving. These men do not share my views, why cant we listen to what THE THREE WISE MEN have to say for once. Just look at the team they came up with, Moses Sichone, Billy Mwanza, Ian Bakala, please just stick to what you know. You don’t even know if Ian Bakala is still active or if Sichone is in form.

  27. Zambia touch problems, I am changing citizenship now and become a Diasporan. Every time problems, This morning it was ZESCO with the Bank smugging $800 million, Lack week fuel shortages, Black out. We are lost

  28. BLAMING THE COACH IS NOT THE SOLUTION..HOLDING MEETINGS IS NOT FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM AS WELL BUT JUST A SOCIAL MEETING FOR CONCERNED ZED PPLE..ZED STRIKERS ARE PROFESSIONALS PLAYING FOOTBALL AT SOME HIGHER LEVELS.RENARD CNT START TEACHING THESE PLAYERS HOW TO SCORE..DATS ASKN 2MUCH FROM HIM.NO NATIONAL COACH WILL TEACH THE PLAYERS HOW TO SCORE…FOOTBALL HAS BECOME 2TECHNICAL DEZ DAYS…DO WE VE QUALITY WORLD CLASS PLAYERS TO BEAT EGYPT N ALGERIA???Y BLAMING THE COACH? ITS A KNOWN FACT THAT WE RE NO LONGER A GIANT FOOTBALL TEAM .WE NEED TO BUILD A STRONG TEAM TO START EXPECTING EXCELLENT RESULTS…HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU SPEND ON ZED FOOTBALL TO EXPECT MOUNTANIOUS RESULTS??WHERZ THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO HELP DEVELOP OUR PLAYERS??SA SPENDS MILLIONS OF RANDS EVERY MONTH BUT THEY DNT SCORE.WHY

  29. by the way who sanctioned this meeting? and where was this? this reporter guy needs to be serious. how does he make a headline of a bunch of drunkards sitting in a bar in johannesburg central. What do they know even? stop misrepresenting us as Zambians living in SA. Ask the same so called concerned Zambians what they have done for themselves? they should not be quick to judge. the problems with Zambian soccer go beyond the coach. if anything we need this coach to be with the team for at least 5 years. thats when we can judge

  30. Zambians have a problem!!! we tend to think any washed-up white man can deliver the goods,all they are doing is milking the country,you don’t want to pay local coaches as good as these “foreign coaches” the teams that have locals perform better,you Zambians are being fleeced all the way to the bank and we are so dumb we do it year in year out yes we are dumb……

  31. Ba Zambia – be humble, you cannot afford a more experienced coach! Nothing wrong with coach – it’s the footaballing talent that’s not there. There’s also no money to develop footaball from age 3 upwards like they do here in the UK. So be humble! Until you have money, all sports, not just football, will continue to suffer.

  32. who are these punks making headlines about Zambian soccer? and who is javelin Safeli? what team did he play for? Kabili didnt this writer hear the directive from the president of FAZ who instructed players not to talk to the press? so why was he phoning SA players for comment. KA BOVA#30 lets not be racist, this coach has a reasonable resume we simply dont have players and the supporting structure

  33. This is a bit like trying to set up secondary education before putting primary schools in place. Surely we need to develop grassroot football before we can even think about winning at the national team level. The mining companies which gave us great teams have gone and we have failed to replace them. Electing people like Kalusha, who have no proven business management experience, to Football House does not help. As for getting rid of the coach, I thought Herve’s salary was partially or fully paid by the French embassy. Before we landed Herve, I remember the German embassy offering to bring in a German coach who was going to be paid by them. If our coach is funded by the French, then we are in no position to complain.

  34. I was very sad when Patrick Phiri was fired. But we are where we are. I am strongly suspect that Herve cannot be fired because his salary comes from France.

  35. Kalu is busy enjoying his marriage in SA while his work is suffering. Wonder why people elected him even when he doesnt live in Zambia. Typical Zambians!

  37. Zambian soccer blues have roots entrenched deeper than the coach. Everything is wrong about the set up. we still believe in ICMPOMBWA, then bola ya malegeni, then the actual ball. Nowadays our friends get to the real bal from creche. My point is our approach as a country towards football has not changed since the sixties. Football has become more than just fitness. its the head, the diet, the psychology etc. we need to pack all this into our players before we can get any results.take a look at how much the south african football association has invested in soccer. compared to us its a joke

  38. Definately Renard is the wrong coach for zed he is failing us, 2 goals mwebantu?? #11 Savannah, good point hunger for success will take us to a higher place. Bati secretly am also hungry for you……..

  39. # 35 i must differ with you. Football is not about Kalusha but about the players. Jhb – lusaka is 2 hours away so someone can easily commute and do his work. you dont know how many days Kalusha stays in Zambia and how long in RSA so dont judge. These days you work smart , you dont need to be seen to make a good adminstrator.

  40. you dont understand what you decided or concluded.how can you include all those madalas in the team?stop dreaming, come back to realities.sichoni, tana,bakala are finished products.why are they failing at club level?do any of you understand modern football?if hr is gone, who do you have in mind to replace him?how much money are you ready to spend?dont talk of things that you neither know nor understand.if the proposed guys will fail to perform to your expectations, you will be the first ones to refrain and abort insults on them.its better if we try new and young blood.football has changed everywhere.

  41. Please Ba LT don’t bring us stories of people who were probably discussing all this under the influence of infused water. Just look at when the decline of football started. Its not about the coach, players etc. Its the whole infastructure that is the problem ~ whether you get rid of the coach today and hire another one tomorrow you will still be sitting around next year at your drink up saying the same thing. Wake up please

  44. This is a simple matter. GET RID OF KALUSHA.

    He has achieved NOTHING!!!! Some of us told you but you were excited for nothing – Kalusha has no administrative experience. That is why he lives in South Africa!!!

  45. #45 Kalu chikala lives in Jozi and controls FAZ via email and telephone (how else?!) Ti za ba pasa chabe muzunga, they will be quiet! Mulenga is playing very good football in Holland, trust Chris to create a lovely pass, or even crack one, ask Benni and Bafana Bafana…BUT NOW THE BOYS CANT SCORE! They used to score a year and half ago…i hope anba ‘banker’ am goals for the African Cup! Chinga lile!!! Wishful thinking…

  47. You cannot reap what you have not sown. Zambia does not have the players to make it to the World Cup. We need consistency at the top. Let Kalu and Renard start building a team capable of qualifying to the 2018 World Cup. Big goals take time. Zambians are delusional. We expect instant results.

  50. The problem is not the coach,but THE level of understanding of our players is below par.just take a survey of our national team, you find that most of them if not all have not gone beyond grade 7.so how do you expect them to understand instructions given by the coach?

  51. # 50 you are right.there is alot to soccer than just the coach.first its the players themselves who are not disciplined and want to do things on there on.some players also get carried away by the little allowances they receive and start womanizing and drinking.soccer is like carrier so players should be picked on merit not the grade 7 failures we have in our team.administration is also critical and FAZ should not interfere into the team,let the coach make his own team.soccer is investment so the more you put in the more you get unlike what we have in zambia where the players are not even motivated.we also need consistency in the team not the situation where today we have a new team and tomorrow another.all the same VIVA CHIPOLOPOLO!

  53. No ways! The level of understanding of our players is very high. Its not the academic qualification that determines how good a footballer one will be. We have previously had teams full of players who reached only Grade Seven and they have done well. The present coach has done the basics and it is clear he can’t take us much further so now we need a more adventurous coach to take over. We now have a very good base of players since a lot are in professional leagues and these need coaching with a difference

  54. What a useless story. This is just one person and LT you publish it? This is the most useless story, I have seen on LT so far.

  55. N# 54 shidada, what a name. you are useless you cant read and see that he is roporting the meeting outcome. You cant even contribute positively, shame on you.

  56. Lol, seriously this article starts off like a bad joke… “a business man, a soccer developer (what is that?), and a truck driver walk into a bar…” it even ends like a joke with calls for players like Tana, Bakala, and Sichone.. all of whom you have no idea how well they are doing at club level or even where they are. Billy Mwanza??? where is he playing? Is he starting? Lets be serious: Zambias scoring problems are not the national team coaches fault. There are in form Zambian strikers at the moment. The local league top goal scorer is Congolese!! And who is going to pay HRs termination costs? We have a problem and thats for sure, but you need to come up with long term solutions. I would expect a better solution from people who claim to know anyting about Zambian football

  58. The FAZ executive and the technical bench have let us down. We have the stuff but we have bad cooks ! Let them go !

  59. Bloggers. The coach is doing his job. If players fail to implement his plans do you expect him to make 10 changes? NO? Secondly he is not coaching people who have never kicked a ball. These are players who playe regulary at their clubs and know the basics of football. So its the players who are fluffing chances. Some of us we have has the opprtunity to watch training and really appreciate that it is done in a professional manner. Otherwise the fiture is bright.

  61. Don’t take this article seriously!!!

    It is what is……… And maybe all it is a bandwagon for people to jump on…

    Just enjoy the games and supporting the team people!!!! HR will be fired when it’s clear there is nothing he can do!

  62. get rid of kalu first then the coach, which new blood when we already have young and new players in the team, emmanuel mbola, william njobvu, jimmy chisenga, mayuka, etc they are not that old . ps sedoff and the likes are still hungary for wins at 30 something

  63. these guys are just on the spot of Zambian soccer, i entierly support their assumption on merit. look at the all issue, the team the coach is using in the Orange ACN is it not the same team proposed by those people who meet in Joburg? there is substance in what the writer brought to our attention. BRAVO GUYS

  64. these guys are just on the spot of Zambian soccer, i entierly support their assumption on merit. look at the all issue, the team the coach is using in the Orange ACN is it not the same team proposed by those people who meet in Joburg? there is substance in what the writer brought to our attention. BRAVO GUYS

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