African Stars revamp coaching department
… as Mbakera becomes assistant coach
WINDHOEK – African Stars Football Club (FC) has announced the appointment of Mervin Mbakera as assistant coach to Mohammed Gargo in place of Andrew Tjahikika.
According to a media release made available to Nampa on Tuesday, Tjahikika now becomes chief scout. “Mbakera brings with him years of football technical management, coaching, and development experience. He has worked with a lot of notable clubs such as Life Fighters and Tigers. In addition he has also coached Namibia’s national Under 17 and 20 girls’ teams. He holds a Namibia Football Association C-licence as well a Confederation of African Football C-licence and DFB International Licence from the German Football Federation,” the statement said.
The rest of the coaching department remains unchanged,
with Gargo retained as head coach, while Athiel Mbaha is goalkeeper coach.
SherwinVriesistheteam’sfitness trainer and Munashe Chinyama comes in as physiotherapist.
Long-serving team manager Lesley Kozonguizi retains his position, along with kit manager Uasana Katjinamunene.
Explaining to Nampa the reason for the reshuffle, Salome Hei, the executive director at Stars, said the move was done to redefine roles of the technical team looking at availability of the members.
“Andrew (Tjahikika) has a career outside football hence he is not available fulltime as a coach. Our coach is a fulltime coach, so he needs a fulltime assistant. That is why we have moved him to scouting where his experience will help the technical team even more,” he explained.
He further stated that trying to conquer Africa will demand a lot from the team, hence the continued exploration of getting the best personnel. On the rumours that they were also planning on approaching former national team coach Ricardo Mannetti, Hei said it would be illadvised to ignore the experience and value of the coach.
“He is by far the most successful coach in Namibian football history. Any person who ignores his experience and value can do so at their own peril. We at African Stars are aware of his capabilities in moulding a team, hence we are planning on engaging him sooner or later,” he added.
Stars are participating in the AfricaChampionsLeagueandhave made it their target to reach the group stages. They currently lead Kampala Capital City Authority by 3-2 in the preliminary round of the qualifiers, with the second leg set for Uganda on 24 August.