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Sharuko on Saturday
IN the summer of 2001, Manchester United were celebrating winning a SEVENTH title in NINE seasons with only Blackburn, in ’95, and Arsenal in ’98, the only clubs to break the Red Devils’ ruthless monopoly in the English Premiership championship race.

And, on those isolated two occasions when Blackburn and Arsenal were crowned champions, United had finished second — just a point behind the winners — in a remarkable parade of dominance.

Life was good, a Champions League trophy in the cabinet, the ghosts of that 26-year barren run without a league title between ’67 and ’93, having long been banished, and the battle to knock Liverpool off their perch having truly gained momentum.

Then, one day that summer, it all changed as an explosion, triggered by words so powerful they shook the Old Trafford fortress that Fergie had built.

“I will be leaving Manchester United at the end of the season and that is it,’’ the Scotsman told the club’s in-house MUTV station.

The timing of his announcement and the sheer weight of its unexpectedness, at a time when United were ruling the roost in English football, shook the very foundations that Fortress Old Trafford had been built on by the Scotsman.

And by the end of the season which the Scotsman said would be his last, United — for the first time since the advent of the English Premiership — completed the campaign outside the top two places, and lost nine league matches for the first time since the arrival of the glitz and glamour of the Premiership bandwagon.

A side which had not finished more than a point behind the only two teams to have beaten them to this crown now had to contend with the embarrassment of finishing 10 points adrift of the Gunners.

 YOUNG, PATRIOTIC AND VERY BEAUTIFUL . . .

 

But, for all the mistakes he made throughout his coaching career, including some crazy signings like Massimo Taibu, Pat McGibbon, Ralph Milne, Doug Fangzhou, Obertan and Bebe and some explosive rows with journalists, infamously telling them “you’re all f*****g idiots,’’ in 2002, Fergie picked his premature announcement of his decision to leave United in 2001 as the worst of his career.

“THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I MADE WAS ANNOUNCING IT AT THE START OF THE SEASON,’’ said Ferguson.

“I THINK A LOT OF THEM (PLAYERS) HAD PUT THEIR TOOLS AWAY.

“THEY THOUGHT, ‘OH, THE MANAGER’S LEAVING.’ IT WAS A MISTAKE AND MY WIFE AND MY THREE SONS CHANGED MY ATTITUDE TOWARDS IT AND I STARTED TO THINK AGAIN.’’

After his change of heart, a United side that had been relegated into a distant third place by the Gunners in 2002 — 10 points adrift of their London rivals — turned it around and reclaimed their title in 2003 with a 10-point advantage over Arsenal.

A hat-trick of titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009, including another Champions League crown in 2008, and further championships in 2011 and 2013 followed before the great Scot, finally, called time on his career.

AKBAY, LIKE FERGIE, MISFIRES AND EVERYTHING GOES HAYWIRE

Dutchman Erol Akbay certainly doesn’t look as hopeless a coach as that Portuguese misfit called Silva, who was somehow smuggled into this country for a safari that went horribly wrong.

Akbay inherited a team which had badly lost its way in 2015, finishing as lowly as sixth in the championship race after losing 11 matches, finishing 20 points behind champions Chicken Inn and 16 points adrift of the very team Highlanders fans measure themselves against, Dynamos.

Given that Bosso had finished with the same number of points as champions Dynamos in 2012 and 2013, including accumulating as many as 69 points in 2012 and losing only one game only to lose the championship race by virtue of an inferior goal difference, 2015 represented a massive step backwards.

And, in his first season last year, Akbay appeared to provide hope for a better tomorrow, with Bosso rising up to third place in an adventure in which, for the better part of the campaign they were even favourites to land the title.

There are some who even argue, and rightly so, that Bosso would have been champions had Bruce Kangwa — who was by far the best player on the domestic Premiership at the halfway stage of the campaign last season — not been sold to Tanzania.

Others also argue that it could have been a totally different story had Knox Mutizwa stayed at Bosso for another season last year, but you can’t fault anyone for the duo’s sale, in an environment where our clubs depend on such financial rewards to oil their operations.

For Akbay to lead Bosso to a double over Dynamos, for the first time in many a moon, taking away that fear factor which appeared to cripple them every time they faced their biggest rivals and replacing it with an ocean of belief, was as impressive as it comes.

The massive black-and-white party that exploded in Bulawayo after Bosso’s 2-1 win over DeMbare in the reverse fixture had to be seen to be believed, and enjoyed, sights and sounds so beautiful they represented the undiluted beauty of what this game should be all about.

Then, just like Fergie, Akbay diluted all that promise for a better tomorrow with an ill-advised announcement, in his final media conference in December, that he couldn’t guarantee he would be back to work for Bosso this year.

Rather than closing a season of genuine promise, on which they could build upon this year to finally challenge for the title, Bosso spent the off-season limping in a haze of both denial and uncertainty, burdened by fear of a future where all the good work which the Dutchman had done would possibly go to waste with the club starting afresh again.

The negativity provoked by the toxic media speculation related to Akbay’s announcement didn’t help matters, in a situation where rather than concentrate on the rebuilding exercise, the club’s leaders now had to fire-fight on different fronts, including a tough battle to convince a sceptical media that all was well in their camp.

I’m not suggesting Akbay has no right to speak his mind, and fight for what is due to him, it’s unprofessional to bring a coach all the way from Holland and then struggle to pay him or meet his demands, if what the gaffer told the media was correct, and you can’t expect him to produce wonders in such a scenario.

But, what I’m saying is that there is a way in which to communicate, especially at such a huge club like Bosso where the interest — from those who working hard to improve its brand in difficult circumstances and some vultures who are willing they fail so that they also get their chance to become the leaders of this huge institution — without provoking some fires.

An institution like Bosso isn’t for loose cannons, especially those in senior positions, because what they say has a huge bearing on a number of things, including destroying whatever good some people might have been doing on the ground to try and ensure everything runs smoothly, and, that’s where I believe the Dutchman falls short.

Some people will say that it’s a measure of his principles that he speaks his mind, fair and fine, but why do I find it rather curious that his outbursts, especially when it comes to threats about cutting ties with Bosso, or issues related to his payment which the club disputes, always come when the club isn’t the one basking in the spotlight of writing a success story?

When he had masterminded that magical double over DeMbare, which sent the City of Kings into an impromptu party, why didn’t we hear the Dutchman — as he basked in the sunshine of that victory — telling the media the challenges he was facing and why he didn’t think he would be around for another Battle of Zimbabwe?

It was only after the quest for a league title had failed to achieve the desired results, as CAPS United celebrated in Harare, when Akbay decided to tell the media about his challenges, something which Bosso official Emmet Ndlovu disputed, at the same media conference telling the journalists the coach would be back for another dance this year.

And, just as Emmet’s said, Akbay returned for another dance this year, the story he sold the media that December day seemingly forgotten despite all the panic that it caused and the derailment it provoked in an off-season of uncertainty and firefighting for the Bosso leadership.

FAST FORWARD TO THIS YEAR, SAME SONG, DIFFERENT OFFICIAL

When Akbay returned this season, as Emmet had indicated, we never heard him tell us what happened to the challenges he claimed last December were forcing him out of Bosso because, after all, the financial situation at the club hadn’t suddenly improved because, unlike Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, a Sheikh from the oil-rich Gulf states hadn’t arrived to take over this people’s team.

When things seemed to be going to plan and Bosso were on course to challenge for the league championship, we never heard Akbay explode complaining about his working conditions and playing his old song that he didn’t think he will continue being at the club.

When Highlanders went to Maglas and beat Shabanie 2-0 recently, we didn’t hear the Dutchman telling the media that, even in that moment of a sweet victory, he was being burdened by the pain of working under very difficult conditions and he wasn’t enjoying the victory as much as he would have wanted.

Instead, according to reporters at the stadium, he plunged into a wild dance, celebrating that victory, each dance move that afternoon an expression of the happiness in his diminutive frame as Bosso enjoyed a good day on the road at a tough venue for visitors.

In the first week of this month, after Prince Dube had gone and ahead of the home match against Harare City, this is the same Akbay who was telling us that his team was firmly in the championship race.

“There are 17 games to go now, from those 17 games if we have every luck then we can be champions, but if we don’t have luck then we won’t be champions.’’

It was about luck, and not resources, or his pay. The same Akbay who had told us in May, when his team was top of the table ahead of their visit to Chapungu, that he was happy with the depth of his squad.

“I cannot complain about my team, I have lots of opportunities to change the style of the team, I have a lot of different players and that makes my team very strong.

“I have talented young players and that’s why I am very happy . . . They have lots of energy and it is good for us.”

And, then, when things started going the other way, he retreated to his old ways telling the media he wouldn’t be renewing his contract at the end of this season because he was unhappy the club had failed to meet their side of the bargain.

Where Emmet Ndlovu sat, by Akbay’s side last December, to start the firefighting exercise triggered by the Dutchman’s tendency to just explode, without warning, and threatened to walk away, Nhlanhla Dube now occupied that seat.

“He has not informed the executive committee. I just heard it now,’’ said Dube. They (the executive committee) have not heard anything until I tell them. I am sure he is going to inform me in writing if that is his intention. We will consider that and respond appropriately.’’

There is a myth that the other teams are very strong, which is not correct, because Rahman Gumbo is in charge of virtually an old people’s home at Chicken Inn, dominated by players staggering in the twilight of their careers, and only the coach’s brilliance has shaped them into this powerful force.

Lloyd Mutasa is in charge of a team dominated by rookies, but he has found a way to build them into a competitive side while Ngezi Platinum is built around players who were off-loaded from Dynamos as excess baggage only for Tonderai Ndiraya to find a way to make them a tough unit.

Of course, Akbay is a reasonably fine coach, but he has this fatal weakness of being a loose cannon, someone who just explodes without warning, without weighing the gravity of his words and, if he is as professional as he claims, he should know that there are issues better dealt with in-house than with the media.

He appears to send a message, as horrible as it, that he has absolutely no respect whatsoever for those that brought him here let alone the very institution he committed himself to serve when he signed pen to paper?

At least Fergie was wise enough to tell MUTV who were his employers.

That Akbay can even suggest he is open to signing for other local clubs paints a picture of a man who has not found any reason to bond himself to everything that Bosso represent and it lends weight to speculation that once emerged in the local media that he was on the verge of dumping them for DeMbare and, that, if he doesn’t know it by now, is taboo.

For him to say he didn’t see any shame in the loss to Tsholotsho, arguing his men had played well, at Barbourfields of all places, was an insult to the Bosso fans.

That is why those who sit at the Soweto Stand turned against him on Wednesday.

Some say Akbay has been struggling to transfer his earnings to his homeland, but if that is the case, then how does he think he will suddenly find a solution to that puzzle at another local side and, to those who sit in the Soweto Stand, this means that isn’t the reason he had served them with divorce papers.

Akbay isn’t the author of all the challenges that Bosso are facing, but his recklessness in the way he just explodes without a sense of caution to say things that repeatedly weigh down heavily on both this institution and the players who suddenly find themselves confused with a scenario of pulling their weight for a coach who is jumping ship — have had a significant impact on the derailment of their progress.

Fergie did it 16 years ago and it was a disaster, even for a club as big and successful as Manchester United, and the great Scot said it was the biggest mistake he made all his career.

Now, if such premature declarations can derail an institution as massive as Man U, with all the finances that they have needs and all the success this monster has achieved, what about Bosso, really, when you come to think of it?

On Wednesday night, I watched Danish giants FC Copenhagen book their place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and what caught my attention wasn’t the raw emotion in the stands but the club’s signature tune — “SUCCESS IS TEMPORARY, LOYALTY IS FOREVER.’’

Loyalty, at such clubs like Bosso and Dynamos, is everything and it’s something that Akbay doesn’t seem to have in abundance and on a scorecard of zero to 10, I will give him zero out of 10 and that, maybe, has been what has crippled Bosso’s leap into the championship winners’ enclosure since his arrival.

To God Be The Glory

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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