Once upon a time, the presence on Ernest Mtawali in the national team setup was a magic wand. He wowed everyone. He could bring the stadium to its feet with a simple tilt of his dreadlocked head. That was when he was a player.
His magic, seemingly, was only as a footballer. For when he was given the more challenging assignment to lead the Malawi National Team, the Flames, from the dugout, Mtawali’s mojo faltered and, just one year in-charge, he has failed to convince his employers to maintain him as Flames coach.
The writing has always been on the wall. After a poor show at Cecafa, a miserable outing from the World Cup, another vain attempt at Afcon and finally being booted out of Cosafa, Mtawali’s days as coach were numbered.
The former Flames midfield maestro managed five wins, lost six matches and drawn six times.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) technical committee headed by James Mwenda met on Saturday to review Flames’ performance under the tutelage of Mtawali.
The outcome of the meeting was obvious as the members have agreed not to renew Mtawali’s contract which was due to expire next month.
Ironically, highly placed sources said the technical sub-committee has also agreed to name Nsanzurwimo Ramadhan as Flames care-taker coach.
The sub-committee has also agreed to forgo major events including the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations to help develop a good national team.
“The committee felt that technically, Mtawali was not good enough. He kept on changing systems unnecessarily. Besides, he lacks interpersonal skills and he was failing to manage fellow members of the technical panel.
“It was agreed that Mtawali’s contract should not be renewed. We also felt that in the meantime we should appoint Ramadhan as the caretaker coach,” said the source.
Another source from Fam Executive Committee also confirmed the development saying the technical sub-committee had recommended that Malawi should continue participating in regional tournaments like Cecafa to pave room for rebuilding exercise.
“At first they wanted the Flames to completely withdraw from all international competitions. But then they realised that we have some youthful players including the likes of Isaac Kaliyati, Stanley Sanudi and Miracle Gabeya among others that need to be groomed. It was thus agreed that the Flames should only concentrate on regional tournaments,” said the source.
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