WELCOME back to the Warriors fold, Rush and Samaita as you Rahman Gumbo and Lloyd Mutasa are also known in local football circles.
Inside sport with MICHAEL KARIATI
What happened on that January 8 morning when Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) vice-president Gift Banda told the nation at a Press conference in the capital that you had been sacked should serve as a wake-up call ahead of an eventful 2019.
Hopefully, now that you are back in the Warriors colours after attempts to relieve you of your duties will make you even stronger for the rigours and pressure ahead on the Warriors bench.
The good thing is that you will be solely focused on the Warriors job after losing your jobs at Chicken Inn and Dynamos respectively.
Yes, Rush and Samaita, you are not the ones in charge of the Warriors — that honour belonging to Sunday Chidzambga — but your contributions will be vital in the senior national team’s quest to qualify for Egypt 2019.
That Chidzambga is the Warriors coach it is a well-known fact, but he consults you when coming up with his final line-up, making his substitutions or other tactical decisions.
What is, however, certain is that you will definitely get the sack should the Warriors fail to make the trip to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in June and the blunder by Banda was a warning to that effect.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The truth is that nobody really knows what happened behind Zifa’s closed doors regarding your “sacking”, but what is important is to make sure that the Warriors qualify or else Banda would be waiting to say “I told you so”.
So far it has been a good campaign, but in the end, the eight points garnered from the five games played so far will count for nothing should the Warriors fail to qualify for their fourth Afcon appearance after making it to the finals in 2004 (Tunisia), Egypt (2006) and Gabon (2017).
The past Zifa board had so much belief and faith in you that they accepted the recommendations made by Chidzambga for you to become his assistants and it is up to you not to disappoint them for putting their faith in you.
So the ball is in your hands. Successfully lead the Warriors to qualification for the 2019 Afcon finals and strengthen your CVs which could lead to plenty of job offers upon return from Egypt; or fail against Congo Brazzaville on March 22 at the National Sports Stadium and join the long list of the unemployed.
Also of importance is the fact that both of you are not employed by any club at the moment and leading the Warriors to the Afcon finals might change the thinking of some clubs who now have doubts about your abilities.
As for you Rush, you have countless league titles under you belt in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana, but success in Malawi and Botswana does not really count much because those countries have very low standards compared to our own domestic club football.
There is also the issue of your sackings at FC Platinum, Chicken Inn and most recently at Witbank Spurs in South Africa, while for you Samaita there is still nothing really to show from all those years in coaching.
The fans are also beginning to doubt you Samaita following the failures at Flame Lily and Kiglon, and the sackings at cash-rich FC Platinum and recently at Dynamos, arguably Zimbabwe’s most popular football team.
However, a club league title or any other domestic silverware does not come anywhere close to leading the national team to the continental football finals where the 24 best national teams will gather for the ultimate prize.
The truth is that too many club offers will come to you should the Warriors qualify for the continental finals and those offers might not be from Zimbabwean clubs only, but also from the region where local football is highly regarded.
For your comments, views and suggestions, email [email protected] or WhatsApp on 077 3 266 779.
