THE RIGHT KOKI-C FOR SIHLANGU!

MBABANE – “Koki has achieved everything a local coach can achieve at continental stage.”

These were the words of nomadic, controversial, yet highly-experienced coach Zenzele ‘Ace’ Dlamini yesterday. Dlamini was responding to questions about Sihlangu’s crushing 0-1 defeat in the COSAFA Cup at the hands of Lesotho on Saturday. He urged the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) to put politics aside and appoint the Mbabane Swallows’ coach as a soon as possible if they wanted Sihlangu to succeed. “The NFAS has not embraced development in its truest sense. I doubt if people really understand what the meaning of development is, because the handover system between the development squads and the senior national team is almost non-existent.You cannot expect to win matches with a non-functional structure like the one we have,” said Dlamini. In addition to the appointment of experienced coaches who know what is expected at regional or international level for the national team, Dlamini noted that Sihlangu need to have a competitive feeder team, like a competitive Under 23 side, that would provide players who were ready to compete at senior level when they were called up.

matching

“A lot of things are wrong with the current setup in our football. Players selected for the national team must have matching qualities and be players who will be able to fit into combinations. It is imperative that they have matching styles in order to be able to work together,” he said. The former Young Buffaloes, Mbabane Highlanders, Moneni Pirates, Manzini Sundowns and Mbabane Swallows coach among others,  said he had personally lost confidence in the administrative structures of football in the country. He emphasised that at the moment,  no coach was as qualified to lead Sihlangu as ‘Koki’ was. Interviewed on the same issue of Sihlangu’s disappointing performance in the COSAFA Cup, Vilakati refused to comment, citing victimisation for those coaches who commented on Sihlangu’s performance. He said he would rather withhold his views. Former Sihlangu’s coach Harris ‘Madze’ Bulunga, who enjoyed success with the squad in the COSAFA Cup in 2016 when they reached the semi-finals and won bronze, also declined to comment.

criticising

“I cannot comment about Sihlangu issues because it might be perceived as if I am suggesting that I can do a better job by criticising the current setup,” Bulunga said. on another note, Dlamini said there should be progression within the junior squads. For instance, he said a coach appointed for the Under 17s should be able to see through the development of those players until they reached the senior national team, Sihlangu. “These are not difficult things to do, but when we talk we are labelled as rebels, yet we have seen these things happen for a long time,” he said.

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