Zambia's Search for Expatriate Coach

It is utterly astounding the twists and turns this selection process is taking. Firstly a Committee is set up by the Minister to find a National Coach. One would have thought the modus operandi for this Committee would be to headhunt. But true to Zambian way of doing things, the process hits off on a convulated trajectory. We are told there is a nondescript list of applicants and they are actively being considered! The process finally ends when a FAZ Committee Member releases the name of one Tosi as being the new national coach! Talk about mediocrity and downright comedy!!

The way serious nations proceed in such processes is to identify a candidate they want based on track record and achievements. Hardly has any serious National Association tried the antiquated approach of inviting applicants to offer their presumed services. When the British were looking for Sven Goran Ericksson's successor they easily came upon Scolari, the Brazillian 2002 World Cup winning coach. The Germans were unequivocal about Klinsman. Similarly, the South Africans had relentlessly pursued Pereira till they landed him, at great cost! The rationale of this approach is that you land a tried and tested coach with a discernible reputation of success. Most coaches from Europe have no interest of Africa at heart, they only want to use these poor countries as stepping stones for lucrative jobs in Europe and the Middle East. Examples abound on this score and it is needless to list them. It is for this reason that when the mindset of the selector's is to engage a European coach, they must be sufficiently convinced of his love of developing soccer.

This last point of genuine love of developing African soccer is critical. This so-called Zambian committee that was tasked to find a coach should have looked for such a candidate either one who has coached in Africa before or one who has potential to embrace Zambia. In this regard, I am wondering why the Dane Roald Poulsen was not considered. He has been the most succesful coach to have tutored the national team in the modern era. He was widely the reason why we reached the finals of the Africa Cup in Tunis in 1994 though Ian Potterfield took the glory. He led Zambia to the semi-finals of the 1996 Africa Cup, losing out because the late James Phiri hid the fact that he had a broken rib hence could not dive in one direction. He came back again just to lead Zambia again to the Africa Cup for the third time but the majority of the team was hit by malaria. Though the team exited the competition in the first round, Zambia's performance on the pitch was widely hailed as they played as a unit and attractively at that!

I suggest that the man worth being given serious consideration is Roald Poulsen. The candidates on the FAZ shortlist aren't worthy to even lace the man's boots!