By Sheldon Hakata

COACHING is one of the most critical, if not the toughest jobs, in every sporting discipline.
Be it in soccer, netball, cricket and boxing to mention but a few, the profession is very stressful.
It is a result-oriented job, which is prone to criticism, making it one of the most volatile careers.
Be it in the local, regional and international leagues, the coaches always get the flake for any failure.
Coaches plan tactics for games.
They study the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams and consider the best way to approach each game.
Before a game, a coach decides on the formation the team will adopt and explains the role each player must take in that formation.
The coach chooses the final players and substitutes for each game, basing their decisions on the tactics they have chosen and the importance of the game.
In the Zimbabwean soccer landscape, there are locals who have made a name for themselves with decorated curriculum vitaes.
Not forgetting some foreigners too who have made a name in the local premiership or with the national team.
For local soccer, the nation has had its fair share of both foreign and local coaches.
These include Mick Poole, Shepherd Murape, Ashton ‘Papa’ Nyazika, Lovemore Nyabeza, Moses ‘Bambo’ Chunga, Sunday ‘Mhofu’ Chidzambwa, Charles Mhlauri, Calisto Pasuwa, Joey Antipas, Rahman Gumbo and David ‘Yogie’ Mandigora.
There are also a number of promising coaches in the domestic league. Tonderayi Ndiraya, Norman Mapeza, Lloyd Chitembwe and Lloyd ‘Samaita’ Mutasa, Taku Shariwa and Luke Masomere come to mind.
Foreign coaches who have plied their trade in Zimbabwe include, Zambians Keegan Mumba, Kelvin Kaindu and Tenant Chilumba, Germans Reinhard Fabisch and Claus Dieter Pagels, Ian Porterfield, Englishman Sean Connor, Portuguese Paulo Jorge Silva and Polish Eddie May. But the question always asked is: Who are the better coaches, locals or foreign?
This question often results in heated arguments, with various names being thrown around.
Chidzambwa is one of the most decorated coaches.
He belongs to the first generation of coaches.
His profile runs from being a player-coach at Dynamos until he hung his boots for a full-time coaching job.
As a player, Chidzambwa made a name at Dynamos until a Joseph Zulu crude tackle at Eiffel Flats ended his career.
The veteran defender won five titles as a player at DeMbare.
Being the first to earn a ticket to the Africa Cup of Nations, Chidzambwa is probably Zimbabwe’s best gaffer.
He has coached in the ABSA Premiership in South Africa and is currently the Zimbabwe national team coach.
The easiest yardstick to judge the success of a coach is by his winning titles or how often he qualified for major tournaments such as domestic trophies, regional, continental and international titles like the AFCON and World Cup.
However, there are some coaches who never won awards or titles, but remain successful.
For example, current Dynamos gaffer, Mutasa exceptionally spotted and developed inexperienced players like Cleopas Kapupurika, Tichaona Chipunza, Tawanda Macheke, Peace Makaha, Gift Saunyama and Quality Kangadzi who scored six goals on his debut season at DeMbare.
The rookie side took the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) by surprise after finishing second on the PSL log.
Judging Mutasa on a basis of winning a title will be unfair considering the circumstances behind the team he assembled. However, in football the titles definitely make a difference.
Mutasa at one time assembled a formidable side in 2011 at Dynamos before falling out of favour with his bosses.
He was shown the exit and replaced by Pasuwa who went on to win four consecutive titles with the same players.
Pasuwa is certainly revered as the best.
Dreadlocked Charles Mhlauri made a name at CAPS United and the national team.
He won the 2004 and 2005 premiership with the ‘Green Machine’ while he was in charge of the national team when they qualified for the second appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.
After that he never coached any team in Zimbabwe.
To many people, he remains one of the most successful local coaches.
In 2004 CAPS United won a treble, a feat that has not been achieved by any other team.
They won the PSL title, Buddie Challenge Cup and ZIFA Unity Cup.
Mhlauri then won two awards; PSL Coach of-the-Year and Mailnet Coach of-the-Year 2004.
The following year Mhlauri, the Warriors coach, became the third coach to win the COSAFA Castle Cup when Zimbabwe beat Zambia 1-0 in the finals played in Mmabatho, South Africa on August 13 2005.
Still in 2005, Mhlauri, as Warriors coach qualified for the African Cup of Nations 2006 in Egypt.
Interestingly, Mhlauri won the Coach of-the-Year gong in 2000 at Amazulu although Usuthu finished second on the log.
Mhlauri is now based in the US
Some people argue that the best ever foreign coach in the Zimbabwean soccer landscape was German Reinhard Fabisch.
His Dream Team rose to fame in the 1990s, but never qualified for the World Cup or AFCON, despite having prolific players like Peter Ndlovu, Benjamin Nkonjera, Francis Shonhayi, Ephraim Chahwanda, Henry Mckop, Mercedes Sibanda and Madinda Ndlovu, among others.
The team had a lot of near misses.
Despite failing to qualify for any tournament, the German gaffer is celebrated as the best for assembling a great team that played entertaining football.
It played before a capacity crowd at the National Sports Stadium every home game.
Other foreign coaches, whose names are easily ‘forgotten’ by people include Belgian Tom Saintfiet, Ghanaian Ben Koufie, Dutch coach, Clemens Westerhof and Polish, Wieslaw Grawboski.
There are still a lot more coaches to write about like Shepherd Murape, Elvis ‘Chuchu’ Chiweshe, Mandigora, Luke Masomere and Moses Chunga to mention but a few.
Next week we continue to look at the above mentioned coaches and others who have made an impact in Zimbabwe.