How Phiri, Tsano changed Bosso’s fortunes

Sport
Who would have thought that Highlanders could end the season on such a high, winning the EasyCall Cup via a convincing win over bitter enemies, Dynamos in the semis and city rivals Chicken Inn in the final?

Who would have thought that Highlanders could end the season on such a high, winning the EasyCall Cup via a convincing win over bitter enemies, Dynamos in the semis and city rivals Chicken Inn in the final?

BY SAKHELENI NXUMALO

The Bulawayo fading giants had slowly become the league’s punching bag; even for the weeping boys.

Not many Highlanders fans welcomed the appointment of former midfielder Amini Soma-Phiri as the team’s interim head coach when the club parted ways with Bongani Mafu with nine games left in the Castle Premier Soccer League (PSL) season.

Soma-Phiri, who came in alongside veteran Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu, was deemed as lacking the experience of coaching in the top flight, while technical director Zulu was labelled too old to cope with the demands of modern football.

An unconvincing start to the interim technical team’s tenure saw further disapproval from fans, with attacks on their appointment reaching a crescendo on social media pages dedicated to Highlanders Football Club. In their first assignment, Phiri and Zulu were greeted by a 1-0 loss at the hands of Harare City before beating Flame Lily with a similar score line in Bulawayo.

In week 24, Bosso were trounced 3-1 by the Green Machine at the giant National Sports Stadium. However, Bosso’s performance under the new technical set up took a turn for the better in week 25 of league action when Highlanders beat Dongo Sawmill 2-0 and the Bulawayo giants then followed up that result by picking up a point away from home against Chapungu in week 26. A 1-0 home victory over Buffaloes ensured Bosso maintained their good form at home and after a 4-2 away victory in Hwange it became apparent that Highlanders’ were on a resurgent path.

A 2-1 home win over Tsholotsho in week 29 ensured Highlanders secured a sixth place finish on the PSL log despite their 1-0 home loss to bogey side ZPC Kariba on the final day of the league campaign.

Away from the league race, Bosso were making waves in the Easycall Cup tournament with a 1 -0 dismissal of FC Platinum in the quarter-final, before edging perennial rivals Dynamos 2-1 in the semi-final stage. That semi-final win set up a tricky encounter against 2015 PSL champions Chicken Inn and a 1-0 win for Highlanders catapulted Soma Phiri and Zulu into instant hero status with the team’s fans.

All of a sudden, the very same people that had ridiculed the two’s appointment were advocating for the Highlanders executive to give the duo the coaching job on a permanent basis. But how did the two coaches turn around the team’s fortunes despite being expected to fail buy all and sundry?

Veteran coach Zulu earlier this week paid a visit to The Standard offices to shed light on the reasons behind their success.

cosmas zulu

Below is the conversation between Zulu (CZ) and our sports writer Sakheleni Nxumalo (SN).

SN: Tsano, congratulations on winning the Easycall Cup and on finishing in position six on the Castle Premiership log. How did you and Amini Soma-Phiri manage to turn around the team’s fortunes? CZ: After we took over at Highlanders, we did a work study and identified areas that needed attention and we got rid of all the bad habits that were hindering progress of the players and the team as a whole. For instance, the players were taking too long to get ready for training. As a result, there was a positive change in their attitude and attitude is very important because with the wrong attitude you cannot get results.

The work study also included profiling the players individually to establish their socio environment issues, like how old a player is, how long a player has been playing top-flight football, where a player stays and who he hangs out with and what influence these people have over him.

After getting that information we then came up with the type of training that suited the profiles of the players we had.

SN: But were your methods not met with resistance, especially the extra training? CZ: After the first week they sent a delegation led by senior players to tell us that the players were not happy with the rigorous training and we told them that those who could not stand the heat should get out of the kitchen. After three weeks, everybody was in tip-top condition as they had gotten used to our regime of training, including the players who were notorious for skipping training on Tuesdays. We also worked on their mental strength. When the team was fit physically and mentally and possessing the right attitude to approach training and matches, we started getting the results.

SN: Besides getting the players in shape physically and mentally, what else did you instil in the boys that helped change the team’s fortunes? CZ: I coached Amini Soma-Phiri at Highlanders, so both of us are well-versed with the philosophy and culture of the club.

People are surprised at the way that Valentine Ndaba is now playing but it is because — as people who have grown up in the system — we helped the boy to understand the team’s philosophy and culture.

The team talk at Highlanders is all about the philosophy, where Highlanders comes from and what it is that the Soweto fans expect to see.

SN: How will you feel if the Highlanders leadership dumps you guys for a foreign coach? CZ: Those issues are not mine to talk about, those are policy issues. Let me tell you why I am saying that. When Highlanders fired Mafu, they called me and Amini to save the team. Nobody forced them to do that. They made their own decision to bring us and when it was made, all you media people and the fans were criticising Peter Dube’s executive saying why bring in Tsano and Amini who have old tactics. The executive stuck by us and said these are the people we want for the job. Now the very same people are saying to Peter Dube; ‘why are you bringing a new coach’? Personally, I respect any decision the Highlanders executive is going to make, even though it’s not yet official because they have not yet called us.

SN: How do you feel about the very people who claimed you were a relic now clamouring that you and Soma Phiri should continue being in charge at Highlanders? CZ: The things I am telling you about today are not even there in your curriculum, whether you have a Uefa B licence or a CAF A licence. These things are not there and I am doing them because it’s something I have been doing for the past 48 years.

Besides, all those guys who say Cosmas Zulu has old tactics have a problem because I am a CAF instructor, so are they saying all these coaches that I have trained and are doing well are using old tactics?

SN: So, do you consider your latest stint at Highlanders as having been successful? CZ: We cannot judge ourselves. It is you who should tell me if we did well.

SN: But you have always spoken about how you were given a mandate to fulfil when the club engaged your services…. CZ: We really fulfilled the mandate we were given by the executive. It’s unfortunate I did not bring my contract. I could have shown you where it is written; ‘Cosmas Zulu, you are appointed technical advisor of all football facets at Highlanders but we are asking that you win at least six games so that this team can end up in the top eight. Besides that, we would like you to reach the final of the Easycall Cup final.’ Reach and not win. We surpassed that and won the cup.