Coach, show Stars’ fans that you care

Two interesting things happened last week. First, in his new book, Leading, Sir Alex Ferguson, a former coach of English Premier League giants Manchester United, admitted that in retirement, he has been volunteering timely pieces of advice to troubled coaches heading to pre-match press conferences.

Ferguson, who guided Manchester United to two Champions League titles and 13 Premiership trophies, admitted that last season he offered timely advice to Leicester City coach Nigel Pearson, whose team was fighting relegation.

“I felt he was a bit too casual. I said ‘your team is bottom of the league and you have to show your anger a little bit. The fans want to see you care.’  He improved after that and so did his team,” Ferguson, known for giving his players the “hairdryer treatment” said in an interview published last week.

The “hairdryer treatment” is a dressing room rant, an up-close lecture by coaches generously given to underperforming players at half-time. Ferguson, hands flailing and all, perfected this cruel form of pep talk at Manchester United.

And France’s rugby coach Philippe Saint-André on Thursday admitted that he successfully employed the art on his players against Romania in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

'HAIRDRYER' TREATMENT

Faced with a looming loss in their Group D match on Thursday and with fans back in his native France expecting nothing less than victory against rank outsiders Romania, Saint-André gave his team the “hairdryer treatment” in the dressing room, with positive results to show for it. France rallied from behind to win the match 38-11.

Kenya’s football coach, Bobby Williamson, can do with some lessons from his compatriot, Ferguson, and Frenchman, Saint-André. Williamson is paid Sh2.5 million a month to ensure that Harambee Stars win matches, yet the Scott’s performance with the team so far has only resulted in heartbreak for local fans. Kenya has lost four out of the six matches Williamson has presided over.

The latest disappointment came early this month, a 2-1 home loss to Zambia in a 2016 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match. Before this month’s loss to Zambia, Harambee Stars fell 2-0 to Ethiopia in a qualifier match for the 2016 African Nations Championship to bow out of the race.

THE PROBLEM

In both losses, Williamson’s response, even body language, did not depict a man fed up with easily losing matches. No. I did not see him kick a water bottle when Zambia equalised after Michael Olunga had put Kenya ahead.

Even the final result did not bring out Williamson’s anger against his blundering defenders and strikers during his post-match press conference. If it did, Williamson did not show it, and therein lies the problem.

I think Williamson needs to show Kenyan fans that he cares about Harambee Stars’ performance to jolt players into action. Before Kenya plays Mauritius in the preliminaries of the 2018 World Cup on October 7, Williamson needs to show fans that he is angry at his players for their collective failure to perform.

Luckily, Williamson sports a new-look full beard which should make his “hairdryer treatment” an unforgettable experience to his players.

The writer is a sub-editor with the Nation Media Group. [email protected]