Local versus foreign battle looms large

Acold war that has been going on between the local coaches and their foreign counterparts is about to become a full blown battle.

There has been some turmoil for a while now but based on utterances by prominent local coaches like Steve Komphela and Pitso Mosimane, we must brace for some ugly but exciting times ahead.

I was surprised early last month when I read that Komphela, who is the poster boy for the cool, calm and collected, had urged local clubs to not allow Luc Eymael to come back into the country.

Komphela and Eymael had a run-in when the former was still head coach at Kaizer Chiefs, a job the latter wanted so badly he might have considered forcing Bobby Motaung to hire him at gunpoint were it possible.

The things he said while he was at Free State Stars unsettled Komphela who was already losing favour at Naturena with results not coming. Eymael took the ultimate jab at “uMphathi” when – after guiding Stars to winning the Nedbank Cup – he went on about how he had won a cup in just two years when others who were at teams with better resources haven’t won anything in a long time.

So when Pirates and other teams were rumoured to have received applications from the Belgian, Komphela made a plea to local club owners to never hire him.

It fell on deaf ears however as Black Leopards have since installed him as their head coach.

Then this week it was Pitso Mosimane

Sibongiseni Gumbi

who installed himself as a spokesman for the local coaches, saying they always get a raw deal while those from outside get treated with kid gloves.

He questioned how some of the coaches from outside have not achieved anything but keep getting plum jobs ahead of locals.

And while he didn’t mention anyone, it was clear to tell that some of it was aimed at Ernst Middendorp who is being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread after getting Kaizer Chiefs buzzing early this season.

The war of words may be ugly and to some extent taint the image of football, but I have a feeling it will be good for our game – it might bring the upturn that we have always wanted.

Now if these coaches have such heated rivalry, then obviously they will want to show their prowess on the field as well. I already can’t wait for the day that Leopards meet Golden Arrows with Komphela and Eymael at opposing benches.

While Komphela will be emotionally intelligent enough to not cause a scene on the touchline, he will want to get the better of his counterpart off the field just to prove a point.

Middendorp has already won the first battle against Mosimane and one can’t help but dream of the two mentors meeting again on December 14 at Moses Mabhida for the Telkom Knockout final.

The Amakhosi mentor left Pitso agitated after outsmarting him and coming away with the full points at Loftus Versfeld last month.

While Sundowns had the most possession and chances, Chiefs were more precise on the result.

They did it to Rulani Mokwena as well twice in a row and he was also left in a fit. These coaching rivalries will make for fiercely contested games as it seems none will be okay with coming out second.

The war between local and foreign coaches has been brewing for a long while now and I remember Nigerian great, the late Stephen Keshi once complained that even carpenters from Europe come here and get praised as coaches.