Latest Updates

April 2008

After much deliberation I have decided to hand in my notice to the Malawi Football Association and will serve the three months notice as per my contract. I had hoped things would change in that there were many problems when I arrived, in fact I had even written to the FA after 4 months expressing my concern over many issues which I felt needed to be addressed unfortunately those issues still continue to be a problem and so for me it was inevitable that I cut short my time in Malawi. I will not sit here and bad mouth the FA as seems to be the common thing to do but will say that I had informed them of my decision weeks ago and it is not based on any recent results. I have spoken with many of the senior players and while they have expressed there unhappiness understand why I have had to make this decision.
 I will leave things at that for now and will return to Malawi on the 30th of the month and prepare the National side for the up coming games we face in the World Cup Qualifiers.

It has been an interesting start to the year to say the least and there is a lot going on in Malawi at the moment.

When I landed in the Warm Heart of Africa as Malawi is known for I remember saying in my first press conference that there is a long and difficult road ahead and that we would all need patience, understanding and above all trust in what I am trying to do in terms of players and development. Now this is not always easy, most people want and expect their teams to do well no matter what but just because a new coach has arrived it does not guarantee instant success. People hope and that’s fine but there needs to be something in place to justify that hope.

In Malawi there is a general lack of facilities and no youth development structure to speak off, so we are at a huge disadvantage when competing against the likes of Nigeria, Senegal, and Egypt and so on. Of course no one likes to hear that especially as once a upon a time Malawi were a team to be reckoned with and so trying to get people to understand that there is a building process that needs to be done before we can expect great results is tough going especially when people that you have to work with on a daily basis don’t seem to understand that. I had a very difficult start here upon my arrival as we played 4 teams who had qualified for the recent African Cup of Nations. We lost all of those games by the odd goal and in fact lost six in a row naturally no one was too happy including me but I had faith in my ability and in the players that I have, not to mention the ones I am going to find as there is talent here of that I am sure. It takes time however to find them, develop them and then of course hope they make the breakthrough.

Some people were expecting us to qualify for the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup both of which are a few years away in my opinion.

Our last three results have been very good and just prove what I have been saying all along, I build football teams that’s what I do best and after 16 years of doing it I know that it is no easy task or done over a few months. We have beaten Swaziland 3-0 away Namibia 3-1 away and our most recent success was a 2-1 home win over Mozambique. For me it is the result of over a year’s work and I am not getting carried away with it either, there is much more work that needs doing and it needs all Malawians to pull in the right direction sadly this is not the case and there is a great deal of politicking going on which is very sad. When the people that you are supposed to work with on a daily basis are not pulling in the direction you are going then there is bound to be problems and it is these problems that are causing me the greatest concern. I will sit down over the coming weeks and assess my future and act accordingly as there is no way we can succeed in the current environment.

In closing I would like to say a very special thank you to the people of Malawi as while the press reports suggest that the supporters were not happy with me the actions of the every day fan and the huge response I received when I arrived at the ground clearly shows otherwise. Before and after the game hundreds of those fans were chanting my name, and after the game I was hoisted up by the supporters and carried around and while I think that I do not deserve such praise I am very grateful to all the supporters who showed everyone what they think of me and it is greatly appreciated.

I will while I am here do my very best to try and repay the faith shown in me by those fans, how long that will be I don’t know.