THERE are mixed reactions to Gerald Phiri Senior\u2019s appointment as Malawi National Football Team Coach. Football Association of Malawi (Fam) also appointed former Blue Eagles coach, Derklerk Msakakuona, as Phiri\u2019s deputy.<\/p>\n
During the duo\u2019s unveiling ceremony in Blantyre on Wednesday, Phiri insisted that people should not judge him based on past results. Mzuni FC Coach, Alex Ngwira, said Phiri\u2019s success will depend on how he will handle senior players.<\/p>\n
Ngwira advised Phiri to avoid \u201crespecting the players too much and avoid being overpowered\u201d. \u201cI have known Gerald Phiri for a long time. He is wise, but he has to play his cards well if he is to lead the team successfully.<\/p>\n
The players can either make or destroy you depending on how you are handling them. So, he has to show his authority,\u201d Ngwira explained.<\/p>\n
Former Flames coach, Kinnah Phiri, reluctantly commented on the hiring of the MDC United legend. \u201cIf they have chosen him, then it means they have chosen the best. So let us support him. There is nothing else I can say,\u201d the Mbeya City FC mentor said.<\/p>\n
But Mzuzu football analyst, Julius Mithi, has faulted the former Azam Tigers coach for insisting that he should not be judged on his past results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am surprised that the calibre of [Fam President] Walter Nyamilandu and his group can make such a decision. Gerald Phiri is too young to manage senior players. He should have continued with the Under-17, 20 and 23 sides before being given such role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the funniest joke in the history of Malawi football. So, whether he wants it or not, Malawians will judge him based on his past. He was in charge of Under-20 side at last year\u2019s Cosafa [Under-20 championship]\u2026 in three games his team did not score.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Mzuzu fan, Alex Banda, concurred with Mithi, saying the duo cannot handle the heat of the national team. \u201cI do not think that he can deliver.<\/p>\n
The job is just too big for him. Look at the clubs he has coached. They have never finished anywhere near the topfive in the Super League, let alone win silverware,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Another soccer follower, Dominic Msowoya, echoed Banda\u2019s sentiments, adding that Fam did not pick the two with a sober mind.<\/p>\n
But Fam General Secretary, Alfred Gunda, maintained that Phiri\u2019s task was just to keep the national team ticking while waiting for an expatriate coach.<\/p>\n
Phiri will be in charge of Flames\u2019 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers as well as the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations clashes against current continental champions and hosts, Cameroon, Morocco and Comoros Islands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THERE are mixed reactions to Gerald Phiri Senior\u2019s appointment as Malawi National Football Team Coach. Football Association of Malawi (Fam) also appointed former Blue Eagles coach, Derklerk Msakakuona, as Phiri\u2019s deputy. During the duo\u2019s unveiling ceremony in Blantyre on Wednesday, Phiri insisted that people should not judge him based on past results. Mzuni FC Coach, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43684,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43680\/revisions\/43684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}