We have been following events since the appointment of Ramon Catala as Warriors coach and the response out there has not been all that good.
Instead of celebrating Catala's arrival, there was the argument why Zifa went for a coach who has spent most of his time as a fitness trainer rather than a football coach ?
Forgotten, however, was that Catala is a holder of the required Uefa Pro licence — who on top of his vast experience as a fitness trainer — has also worked as national coach of Nicaragua and had an attachment with Libya as a coach.
It should also be placed on record that one of the most successful coaches in Zimbabwean football history was a physical education teacher in the form of the late Reinhard Fabisch who took Zimbabwe to 13 unbeaten Afcon and World Cup qualifiers.
For those not in the know-how
it was during the reign of that "physical education trainer" that the Warriors catapulted to ninth in Africa and 40th in the world on the Fifa world rankings and today we are sadly 130th in the world.
We are not saying Catala is the Messiah we have been waiting for but we strongly feel that what
Zimbabwe needed was not a coach with the best of CVs but one who can motivate and raise the spirits of the players and make them believe they can do it.
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We do not agree that we needed so and so as our coach because he did so and so in Kenya, Ghana, or South Africa because we have travelled through that path before with the likes of Ian Porterfield, and it did not work.
We know some might not agree but we believe what Zimbabwe needs or needed was to identify its own man whom the country will make popular in the same way that it did to Fabisch in those good days of 1993 and 1994.
Catala might not be all that well known, but it should also be placed on record that Herve Renard was a nobody when he came to Zambia and the Chipolopolo made him what he is today with that Afcon triumph in 2012.
Surely, giving such assignments to coaches like Catala is a huge risk but the most successful of people have achieved their goals through risks and we need to give Catala his chance and all the support he needs.
Surely, talk is not deliverance nor a guarantee but listening to Catala reveals a man who knows what he is here for and is determined to see Zimbabwe's world ranking rise higher than the 130 it is today.
This - he knows - can only come through winning matches including qualifying Zimbabwe to Afcon 2027 and - if it can be done - World Cup 2030 since he has a contract that runs up as far as the next World Cup.
What he now needs is to resist the politics of Zimbabwean football by being his own man in his team selection and resist outside influence.
To their credit, Zifa have rolled out a conveyor belt talent system that runs from the Under 15 to the Warriors via the Under 17, Under 20 and Under 23 to regularly supply Catala with players for use for the senior team.
What is even heartening is that Zifa have brought together the best of coaches, Backlyfield Chivenga for the Under 15, Tafadzwa Mashiri for the Under 17, Kaitano Tembo for the Under 20, and Catala's assistant, Marc Sanchez for the Under 23 to support the talent system.
Moreso, that there are also the likes of George Mbwando and Max Makanza Lunga who have excelled in their junior talent identification and development roles in Germany.
Surely, this time Zifa are on the right path and we need to give them our thumbs up for doing what we believe is the right thing or right things.
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