Clayton Shereni
MASVINGO– Zimbabwean football fraternity has for the past few months been engulfed in a series of debates surrounding the quality of Warriors head coach Zdravko Logarusic who has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Logarusic promised to change the Warriors fortunes for the good but insisted that he is not ‘Messiah’ when he was unveiled at a press conference in Harare on February13.2020.
“I am not Messiah, I do not know everything. I have something but I have to take the best from you and we can put it together to create something, that is what is important for me,” said Logarusic at his unveiling.
Indeed his poor record of results has proven the truth that he is not ‘Messiah’ but the worst thing that has ever happened to Zimbabwean football.
He also failed to bring order to the dressing room but rather his assistants turned their backs on him and allegedly sabotaged him for his failure to bring unity of purpose to the team.
The Croat’s track record is crystal clear, he is a total failure both when managing clubs and national sides but Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) ignored all that and appointed him Warriors gaffer.
From his days at Gor Mahia (Kenya), Simba SC (Tanzania), Asante Kitoko (Ghana) football clubs and the unceremonious departure as Sudan national team head coach, arguably there were no two ways the Croat would bring something to smile about for soccer-loving Zimbabweans hence not the right man for this job.
The association has been defending Loga with everything in their arsenal and even crediting him for guiding the nation to the rescheduled 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals to be played in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6 2022, a claim that the whole nation know is a blue lie.
Loga took over from Joey Antipas when the team had garnered four points and he came in adding four points.
Zifa kingpins have been defending a shoddy job that has seen the team going for 14 games with just one win against the less threatening Zebras of Botswana.
In the upcoming Fifa rankings Zimbabwe are most likely to be ranked their all-time lowest, all this is not the Croat’s fault, but individuals at Number 52 Livingstone Road who have been putting a ‘wall’ protecting the clueless gaffer for reasons best known to them.
Loga is probably the first underperforming coach to last this long even though it is evident that he is a total failure and worst to ever coach the Warriors.
His continuous reign at helm of the Warriors in open defiance to a public outcry from fans and other critical stakeholders for his ouster is a clear sign that a certain cabal within Zifa is running the show.
Although his departure was long overdue, the cancer that has been eating the world’s most beautiful game is still there and it is within Zifa.
Someone could be sweeping the dirty under the carpet instead of taking it to the dust bins.
The leadership at the association’s ascension to power was tainted from the day when they took over the reins from Philip Chiyangwa through ‘unscrupulous’ means which have seen Zifa president Felton Kamambo appearing before the courts to answer for alleged bribery charges.
It is alleged that he bribed his way to the top, an allegation that he vehemently denies blaming football politics to be the major drive behind the case.
With no doubt, a Mafioso which does not care about the pride of this nation and face of the game to the cooperate world is running Zifa.
Even if the world’s best coaches or tacticians; Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti are tasked to take over from Loga, they are destined for failure under the current Zifa leadership.
Contacted for comment, Friends of the Warriors Secretary General Zivanai Muwashu said the chances are now very slim to break the World Cup jinx and called upon the association to look into the current crop of local coaches.
“The coach has failed and as much as we would want to exercise sympathy but the results are not forthcoming and there is nothing special about Loga. We have tried foreign coaches and it is time to turn to local coaches,” said Muwashu.
Commenting on factors that are leading to poor results, Muwashu said there are many things to blame for the poor results and urged stakeholders to go and re-strategize ahead of the upcoming fixtures.
“There are many factors that have contributed to the poor results starting with government itself. In other countries, national teams are the assets of the state, other governments fund or subsidize activities of the national team. A lot has to be done and it is a mountain to climb if we are to qualify for quarter. We have to go back to the drawing board as stakeholders and avoid making decisions based on emotions,” said Muwashu.
A total overhaul of the association can be the only solution to end this Zifa madness that has been rampant for quite some time.
Reckless utterances by Zifa officials have done more harm than good and this maybe reason why the association has failed to lure continuous funding from individual and cooperates in the country.
Some have even gone into an overdrive to rubbish fans emotions over the poor show exhibited by the Warriors under Loga’s tutelage.
ZIFA board member and chair of the Technical and Development Committee, Bryton Malandule in July this year after Zimbabwe shamefully crashed out of Cosafa tournament said it was the association’s sole duty to recruit or dismiss a coach.
“The hiring and firing of the coach is prerogative of the Zifa board, with recommendations from the technical committee. We will, however, meet to review performance of the team at Cosafa upon submission of a report by the coach,” said Malandule.
This came after fans protested demanding the head of Loga on a platter following a poor show at the Southern Africa soccer showpiece that the Warriors previously dominated.
However, for warriors fan William ‘Gunman’ Mahoko feels Zifa has to pull up its socks and ensure transparency prevails on the recruitment of coaches.
“I do not know the criterion which is used by Zifa administration when employing coaches. A contract should be performance-based. The coach has gross incompetence; he is taking our national football nowhere. Loga must go; we need a local coach like Norman Mapeza. Zifa should not employ foreign coaches because of white skin (sic), next time they should scrutinize the curriculum vitae first,” said Mahoko.
With Zimbabwe occupying bottom position in Group G with just a point from two games, a herculean task awaits the one who would take over from Loga considering the tough encounters against the Black Stars of Ghana unless if some sort of magic is employed.
Warriors will face Ghana in a back-to-back fixture during the next international break and odds do not seem to be on their side unless ‘Football Gods’ decide to favour them.
Local coaches have been rotating and some names being thrown into the hat have had their fair chance but still failed to produce the much-needed results.
With the continuous incompetency and alleged interference in player selection, it will be just a matter of time before anyone who gets the top job is fired for producing poor results.
