Some TNM Super League coaches believe that former Silver Strikers\u2019 burly forward Mathews Sibale was the most outstanding in all competitions in the just-ended season.
\nThe Daily Times had asked 14 out of 16 coaches which player they think was the overall best and based on what reason.
\nOverall, four coaches put their money on Sibale while two thought Red Lions\u2019 Chikoti Chirwa was the most outstanding player.
\nOther two coaches opted for Be Forward Wanderers\u2019 sensational midfielder Joseph Kamwendo as the best for the 2017 season.
\nTwo other coaches opted for Nyasa Big Bullets defender Emmanuel Zoya while four coaches each put their money on Wanderers\u2019 Alfred Manyozo Junior, Stanley Sanudi, Silver goalkeeper Brighton Munthali and Bullets\u2019 Mike Mkwate.
\nTwo coaches were not available for intervies.
\nThe coaches felt that Sibale, who is the Golden Boot Award winner-designate with 16 goals, deserves the best player award after helping Silver to grab the Airtel Top 8 Cup.
\nSilver also finished on position three of the league\u2019s log table for 2017.
\n\u201cHe was the reason behind Silver\u2019s success as he scored most of the team\u2019s vital goals,\u201d said one of the coaches about the Mozambique\u2019s Costa do Sol\u2019s new signing.
\nChirwa, who was the second choice of most coaches, was commended for a remarkable season for club and country.
\n\u201cRed Lions struggled for the better part of the season but Chirwa was the most outstanding player throughout. He, eventually, earned his re-call-up to the senior national team and broke into the first XI,\u201d he said.
\nAnother coach heaped praises on Kamwendo for his consistency.
\n\u201cHe played a big role in Wanderers\u2019 battle for the league championship. He played most games and scored important goals that won games for Wanderers.
\n\u201cAt his age, you cannot expect much from him but he defied that. He always raises the spirits of his players, and he is an important player at Wanderers,\u201d he said.
\nThe coaches also lauded Zoya for his discipline and incredible performance in the just-ended season.
\nZoya scored vital goals for Bullets, as they won the Carlsberg Cup and finished on second place on the league\u2019s log table.
\nHowever, former Bullets general secretary, Higger Mkandawire, differed with Sibale\u2019s choice as the potential player of the year.
\n\u201cThe coaches are going for Sibale because he is a top goal-scorer but there are a number of things to consider when coming up with player of the season.
\n\u201cIn this case, Sibale had no impact on the national team level. For me, I would go for Chikoti because he had a tremendous season at club and national team level,\u201d Mkandawire said.
\nSuper League of Malawi will reward outstanding players for the season on January 26 in Blantyre. However, the forthcoming awards are based on league performance.
\nHow coaches voted
\nLloyd Nkhwazi (Dwangwa)\u2014 Stanley Sanudi, Be Forward Wanderers
\nTemwa Msuku (Mafco)\u2014 Emmanuel Zoya, Nyasa Big Bullets
\nAudlow Makonyola (ex-Blue Eagles)\u2014Chikoti Chirwa, Red Lions
\nLovemore Fazili (Silver Strikers)\u2014Brighton Munthali, Silver
\nPatrick Kulemeka (Azam Tigers)\u2014 Did not vote Rodgers Yasin (Nyasa Big Bullets)\u2014Did not vote
\nCharles Kamanga (Moyale Barracks)\u2014Emmanuel Zoya, Bullets
\nYasin Osman (Wanderers)\u2014 Joseph Kamwendo, Wanderers
\nAlex Ngwira (Mzuni)\u2014Mathews Sibale
\nKondwani Mwalweni (Chitipa United)\u2014Mike Mkwate, Bullets
\nNelson Chirwa (Red Lions)\u2014 Chirwa
\nFranco Ndawa (Civil Sporting Club)\u2014Joseph Kamwendo, Wanderers
\nAbbas Makawa (Masters Security FC)\u2014Sibale
\nBilly Phambala (KB)\u2014Sibale
\nMacdonald Mtetemera\u2014Alfred Manyozo, Wanderers
\nPeter Mponda (Wizards)\u2014 Sibale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some TNM Super League coaches believe that former Silver Strikers\u2019 burly forward Mathews Sibale was the most outstanding in all competitions in the just-ended season. The Daily Times had asked 14 out of 16 coaches which player they think was the overall best and based on what reason. Overall, four coaches put their money on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59177","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\/59177","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=59177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59179,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59177\/revisions\/59179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}