The day Stan was fired

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Baleseng Batlotleng

Location : Gaborone

Event : Interview

In any perfect relationship, a girl will show you her heart and not because of bad luck or fate, will also show you the door, so says English rock band from Yorkshire, Smokie, in their hit song A few dollars more.

And as they often state in divorce papers, the relationship between the two parties may irretrievably break down and in the interest of both parties it comes to pass that the termination of the union is only valid.The same can also be said about the long-standing pipeline decision to nullify the relationship between Botswana Football Association (BFA) and Zebras head coach, Stanley Tshosane.

Various media houses, soccer analysts and former star players took to social media to express their feelings upon hearing news that the Zebras head coach, Tshosane, had been shown the door following a string of poor showings. The soft-spoken coach had been with the national team for the past six years after succeeding Briton Colwyn Rowe in 2008.

Last month (October), the curtain finally came down on the former BDF XI coach. Before this latest incident, Tshosane had refused to buckle or fall on his own sword notwithstanding that some had daggers already drawn out.

Against all odds, he won his detractors` affection by taking the team to the first ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in 2012. However, a string of poor showings just after the AFCON appearance will forever remain ingrained in his thoughts and coaching career. Tshosane`s performance just after AFCON was not showing any sign of maturity and the next equally competitive continental games heaped more misery on him.

He desperately needed a win to impress in the next qualifiers and any other targets before him to stave off his detractors and give credence to his roadmap. At one point Stan, as he was affectionately called, jabbed his employers for the poor structures but ironically the BFA itself was seeking satisfactory results on the field.

All was lost and he had to leave. After the newly appointed BFA chief executive officer, Keith Masters, delivered the letter that carried the news of his sacking, I took to the streets, social media and one-on-one interviews to gauge the mood.

THUSO PALAI (soccer columnist and journalist)
“It came as no surprise to me when I heard that Tshosane was fired as the BFA had long been mulling over it. It was a matter of when and not if. The BFA was under pressure to act in the face of unsatisfactory results. They could no longer justify the poor results and Tshosane was made the scapegoat. In football, when a team does badly, it`s usually the coach that gets the boot and Tshosane was no exception.
We however should not fool ourselves to think that disposing off Tshosane will miraculously change our fortunes, it won`t. Tshosane was a small factor in a much bigger problem. And that is where the focus should be; getting our development structures functioning so we have a greater pool of developed players in our League for national team coaches to choose from, otherwise we will forever be hiring and firing coaches.
Love him or hate him; Luck or No Luck; one thing we can never take away from him is that he is the first and only coach to take us to a major Championships Final and for that I will forever respect him. And under the circumstances, he did the best he could”.

MQONDISI DUBE (Sports Editor Mmegi Newspaper)
“I also saw it coming. It was just a confirmation of an obvious process soon after the Tebogo Sebego administration took over. The reaction that we get from people also indicates that there goes a man who brought joy and pain to them. It was under his reign that the national team enjoyed the best moment and also it was still under his reign that the team went for more than two years without a victory in an official match. According to me if the results are not coming somebody has to go. It did not come as a surprise though,”

TSHEPO BOGOSING (Sunday Standard sport Editor)
“Definitely not surprising on my part. Part of a long process involving the new administration cleaning the old carpet. But I sometimes feel Stan was not given enough support when he tried to carve his roadmap. He called for more training camps but was not supported in his quest to get the squad ready.  You can recall several cases where players failed to turn up for camp citing some irregularities with top management,”
 
BRUNO OUPA KOLE (Zebras supporter) I Was saddened by his sacking but I Saw it coming. I`ve personally heard of the NEC members likening poor performing  teams` play to that of Zebras ya ga Stan. That on it`s own told me something. I listened to that particular person`s conversation & he uttered words like “kana mthaka yo o hirilwe ke Fani,le nna ke batla coach ee tla nkisang AFCON or better  “ So tota rra,BIG STAN o thatafaleditswe tiro hela ka bomo!! Imagine Bright ene a re he won`t release his players to go &  sit on da bench, especially Noah & Alphonse. Baa go tla ka mang yoo botoka? Tht`s my question?

GOITSEMANG GOUWE (soccer fan)
Nna i was not suprised,i saw it coming, even interview ya gagwe ya game ya bofelo ya Burkina Faso o ne a bua hela jaaka motho a setse a itse gore o tla kobiwa, nna i didn`t have a problem with him, but nna ke bona a siame a vaile even though asa kobiwa sentle it was an unfair dismissal, mme monna wa modimo ne ba tswana ba mo gatetse monwana it was best a dule,i expected him to quit ebile. Ends

Teaser:

"Love him or hate him; Luck or No Luck; one thing we can never take away from him is that he is the first and only coach to take us to a major Championship."