AfricaPress-Tanzania: IT recently surfaced in the news that Yanga head coach, Cedric Kaze, has been unceremoniously given the heave-ho
The move to oust Kaze came as a shock to many football observers and it definitely set tongues animatedly a-wagging.
In my book, the decision was unfathomable in its wisdom but upon deeper reflection on the matter, it appears to be one more sign of the destructive perfectionism which is presently rife in football not just here on the home front but across this expansively vast world.
Indeed, this pernicious perfectionism has become so ingrained in global football culture to the harmful extent that it is rarely questioned but in fact has become the accepted order of the day; the ‘new normal’ so to speak.
This particular affliction ailing football today assumes its ugliest form especially where aristocratic football sides are concerned.
In this damaging ‘new normal’ prevalent in global football today, time-honored virtues like patience have been ruthlessly chucked out of the window in favor of the distinctly unrealistic and particularly questionable value of instantaneous success, which, lest we forget, severely handicaps the clear-eyed decision-making process of literally every aristocratic club jockeying for coveted honors on the world football landscape.
Indeed, just to illustrate the sheer ludicrousness and scornful folly of the destructive perfectionism negatively affecting football today, we would do well to recall the early years of the legendary ex-Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, at the iconic Old Trafford stadium.
After being thrust into the hot seat of the Red Devils in 1986, Sir Alex was forced to endure an especially lean, trophy-less four-year spell as the Manchester United boss.
Indeed, the fiery Scot, whose thirst for success knew no bounds, picked up his very first trophy as Manchester United’s manager in the 1990-1991 season in the form of the treasured F.A Cup.
However, after savoring the joyous taste of his first trophy success, Sir Alex never looked back and the rest, as we say, is history.
Interestingly, a germane question thus arises: what would have unfolded had the upper echelons of Manchester United’s officialdom at the time moved to dispose Sir Alex of his services?
Needless to say, if the Red Devils had fired Sir Alex during those fruitless early years, they would have missed out on having the most decorated, successful and celebrated British manager of all time!
Ergo, it is long past time to restore patience as one of the most cherished virtues in football, which, I might add, would restore some sorely needed sanity as well to the world’s most popular sport.
Let us now stride forward. In another football development, this time regarding the continent, a significant and monumental change has just occurred at the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Indeed, CAF can now boast of having a new president in the form of the South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, who succeeds the former president Ahmad Ahmad, whose reign towards the end was tainted by a corruption scandal.
One of Motsepe’s overarching ambitions is to project continental football onto a global stage.
While this is an entirely commendable ambition, the new CAF president would do well to bear in mind that there are also other pressing affairs which require his attention too.
These include rectifying the historically saddening underinvestment in women’s football and really tackling the maladministration in CAF and in other areas of the continental football scene.
Having said all that though, it can only be hoped that Motsepe’s spell as the CAF president will yield the ripe fruits of transformative and glorious success both on and off the pitch.
