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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor

LEGENDARY Scottish coach Jock Stein, the first manager to guide a British club to conquer Europe when Celtic were crowned champions of their continent in 1967, won nine consecutive league titles, with the Glasgow giants.

That glorious trophy-laden run came between 1966 and 1974.

Iconic Bulgarian coach, Krum Milev, had earlier set the benchmark of such success, by winning nine straight league titles, with Bulgaria side CSKA Sofia.

That amazing run came between 1954 and 1962.

Both men set a high standard, in terms of routinely winning the league championship, which remains the bar which others have to clear, in search of immortality.

Walter Smith won six straight league titles, with the Rangers, between 1992 and 1997, when the club matched their great Scottish rivals, Celtic, with nine titles, on the bounce.

It’s an impressive run which Pep Gurdiola would have beaten, during his spells with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, had his quest for a fourth straight title, with the Catalan giants in 2012, not failed.

He won three straight league titles with Barca, between 2009 and 2011, then left after their failed bid to make it four on the bounce, in 2012, to recharge his batteries, in the United States.

Once he felt refreshed enough to return into the trenches, he joined Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The shadow of Stein has loomed large, over coaches, since the Scotsman found a way to transform a British club, into European champions, for the first time, and also win nine league championships in a row.

He died, on the very theatre where he had thrived, after he suffered a heart attack, on September 10, 1985 at Ninian Park, having overseen Scotland’s ’86 World Cup qualifier against Wales.

Stein’s death was pronounced in the stadium’s medical rooms and the tragedy had a profound effect on his assistant, Alex Ferguson, who would later go on to become one of the greatest football managers of all-time.

He might not be operating at the same high levels as Stein and Milev but, in terms of success, Callisto Pasuwa has been writing his own fairytale, when it comes to winning league championships.

Seven league titles, in the seven seasons in which he has been the head coach of the two clubs he has guided so far, is a very impressive return, for someone who is largely underrated.

On Sunday, without kicking a ball, Pasuwa won his third straight league title with Malawian giants, Nyasa Big Bullets, after their rivals fell by the wayside.

His men had thrown the gauntlet on their rivals, by winning their penultimate match, on Saturday.

It means the third championship, on the bounce, was secured with a game to play, in the Malawian Super League.

And, since arriving on the scene, at Dynamos in 2011, he now has seven straight league titles in his trophy cabinet.

Ironically, at both DeMbare and Big Bullets, Pasuwa was initially recruited largely to try and resolve a crisis but ended up doing so well he stayed longer than his employers had expected.

He was thrown into the deep end at the Glamour Boys, after Lloyd Mutasa’s men had lost the momentum, which they had shown, in the early part of the season.

With FC Platinum going strong, Pasuwa was only expected to douse the flames, amid rebellion within the DeMbare fan base, as the team slumped to a series of poor results.

But, in the 12 games he was in charge of, Pasuwa revived the Glamour Boys.

                 SIX IN A ROW . . . Walter Smith’s haul, in terms of titles won in a row, was overhauled by Pasuwa

They won nine of the matches, including a priceless 1-0 victory, over FC Platinum at Mandava, in the penultimate match of the campaign.

They lost only one, at Mucheke against Masvingo United, with goalkeeper Washington Arubi unavailable because of national commitments, and drew two other matches, to collect 29 out of a possible 36 points.

Not even FC Platinum could withstand such a fierce challenge and, although both teams ended with the same number of points, DeMbare won the championship, by virtue of a superior goal difference.

The following season, they defended their title, after beating Highlanders by the goal difference, which had cost FC Platinum, with Dynamos winning 21 of their 30 matches, drawing six and losing three games.

They made it three titles, in three years, in 2013, and a fourth, on the trot, arrived in 2014.

              NINE IN A ROW . . . The late Jock Stein set the benchmark with nine league titles, in succession

When he was hired by Big Bullets, in October 2018, there were concerns at the Malawi giants the team was moving in the wrong direction, under the coach he replaced.

He took charge of the final seven games, winning five, drawing one and losing one to pick 17 out of a possible 21 points, as the Bullets were crowned champions.

For Pasuwa, it was his fifth league title, on the trot and the following season, his men only lost two, of their 30 league games, to end with 70 points, on their way to defending their title.

This year, with a game in hand, they have just won the third straight championship, under Pasuwa’s guidance.

Since he took over, as the Dynamos head coach, Pasuwa has been in charge of 168 league games, in Zimbabwe and Malawi, winning 103 matches, drawing 45 and losing just 20.

His teams have scored 280 goals and conceded 92 to pick 354 points, out of a possible 504 points, representing an impressive 70.2 percent success rate.

If Pasuwa wins two more league titles, in his next two seasons, wherever his career is likely to take him, he would have matched the records set by Stein and Milev.

However, it’s also important to note that by the time Stein was hired by Celtic, he was also in the trenches of coaching, in the Scottish Premiership at Dunfermline Athletic and Hibernian.

He also had his first spell, as Scotland coach, in 1965.

Milev, though, has an adventure that matches Pasuwa given that, when he took over CSKA Sofia, in 1948, he was coming straight from his playing days at the club.

In total, he won 11 Bulgarian league titles, including nine on the bounce, with his beloved club.