Why coaches should avoid reckless remarks

Our politicians can make fools of themselves all they want, but such recklessness should never be allowed to extend to the football pitch”
Moses Ojuang

What you need to know:

  • We always expect it and it seems we shall endure it for a very long time to come since the sponsors post hundreds of their adverts behind the speaker to market themselves subliminally to the audience.
  • Odipo may have been unhappy over the referee’s decision to award Gor Mahia a penalty in the game that ended 1-1. He may also have been irked by the behaviour of some Gor fans who opted to scale the perimeter fence thus denying Tusker gate collection.

I have always wondered why time is wasted in post-match interviews with coaches.

It is usually a drab affair and the man of the match or his coach speaks carefully edited nonsense which adds nothing to the game already played.

When a team loses or draws a match they expected to win, the coach invariably says they played rather badly with their hearts not in the match. He then shall talk of the next match where they shall concentrate more and hope to win. Sample this:

“It is true the boys have not played very well today but sometimes that happens. We shall focus on our next match and hope that we can consistently win our remaining matches.”

This was what Tusker coach Francis Kimanzi said after the draw with City Stars last Friday. It is a fixed statement and it is overused by coaches all over the world.

POWER OF CAMERA

We always expect it and it seems we shall endure it for a very long time to come since the sponsors post hundreds of their adverts behind the speaker to market themselves subliminally to the audience.

We must admit though that once in a while, someone says something extra stupid and worth being news. I suppose it is the power of the camera which gives humans a sense of importance while at the same time reducing their brain sugar level.

We see this in some of our political leaders, whose names are best not mentioned here.

We still remember the recent raucous public exchange between two senior politicians during which one of them, in the heat of the moment, snarled: “Hizi pesa sio za mamako…”

The politician in question may have been saying something important but we have to sniff through that reeking content of a pit latrine to get the wisdom.

That is an unsavoury task and thus we still insist it was in very bad taste. On the other hand, disparaging him won’t help since most of our politicians really get aroused to spew filth by the sight of a camera placed infront of them.

While in politics such conduct is acceptable, in football, there are consequences for similar behaviour as was evident in the Tusker versus Gor Mahia match last weekend.

The brewers assistant coach Leonard Odipo showed his culpability in front of the camera. When the word ‘action’ was presumably whispered to him; his eyes bulged and the hair on his body stood on their ends. He was totally aroused and with the brain sugar level reduced to a dangerous minimum and he exclaimed:

“The winner of the league has already been determined by powers that be.”

It was a baffling release and indeed for the first time, the post match interview had something interesting.

Odipo may have been unhappy over the referee’s decision to award Gor Mahia a penalty in the game that ended 1-1. He may also have been irked by the behaviour of some Gor fans who opted to scale the perimeter fence thus denying Tusker gate collection.

Those two things coupled with the camera and its effect upon our hero led to his inane outburst.

Unlike the politicians, our man shall face consequences and KPL has already fined Tusker Sh 100,000 payable within seven days for Odipo’s careless remarks. Odipo has also been asked by the league to show cause - within a week - why further disciplinary action by the Independent Disciplinary and Complaints Committee should not be taken against him for bringing the league into disrepute, in contravention of KPL rules on misconduct.

Kenyan football is of a greater importance to us and cannot be allowed to go the filthy political way. Our politicians can make fools of themselves all they want, but such recklessness should never be allowed to extend to the football pitch.

They are the ones to learn from us that consequences abound from speaking garbage. Ditto Odipo.