Stars overlook part-time home coaches for top job African Stars executive chairman Salomo Hei says Namibian coaches who were eyeing the club’s head coaching position did not meet a key requirement. Instead, the club opted for Lesotho national Bob Mafoso who was unveiled as substantive head coach of the Debmarine Premiership defending champions. He takes over from Ronnie Kanalelo who resigned at the end of January after just under a year with the team. Hei said local coaches who applied for the job were overlooked on the basis of being part-timers, adding that Mafoso’s profile aligns with the club’s lofty ambition of becoming a force on the continent. “We were looking for a career coach, in the sense that it’s someone who is a full-time coach. Not someone who will have another job from 08h00 to 17h00 and then run to Stars for the training,” Hei told Desert FM this week. “There was interest shown from local coaches but obviously we needed to understand [where] these coaches are in terms of where African Stars FC is going,” stressed Hei. The executive chairman said the process of employing a head coach had been concluded and that Benni Haoseb, who stood in for Kanalelo, had given management time to find a new tactician. “Haoseb steered the ship; I remember that he took charge of the team when we travelled to the north for the Eeshoke Chula Chula and KK Palace encounters where we collected maximum points,” Hei said. Bob Mafoso has been appointed as technical director of African Stars. File photo “Haoseb went on to deliver the inaugural MTC Maris Cup after disposing of Bucks Buccaneers in the semi-final and eventually Young African FC in the final showdown held at the Hage Geingob Rugby stadium.” Haoseb will revert to his assistant coach position. Mafoso inherits arguably the strongest side in Namibia and is expected to see them to a third consecutive league title, which will guarantee CAF Champions League qualification. Stars top the Debmarine Premiership log standings with 26 points at the halfway stage of the season, with FC Ongos second by virtue of an inferior goal-aggregate. Khomas Nampol in third place with 25 points look likely to be the other side challenging for honours. Hei believes Mafoso will justify the club’s decision to recruit him. “We have concluded and we were able to get the work permit for coach Mafoso. He has a Confederation of African Football (CAF) A licence and his résumé speaks volume in terms of what he has accomplished as a coach,” said Hei “Given where we are on the log standing, I think we are on the right track and we hope that coach Mafoso comes in and gives us the necessary impetus that we need to get over the line. “This is what we want as we continue our pursuit of the African champions league,” Hei continued. “We are very specific in terms of our objective, I mean African Stars compete for everything. We would want to have our identity in terms of how we want to grow our football.” Approached to comment on the issue of Stars opting for a foreign coach, seasoned mentor Lucky Shipanga commended the club for the direction they have taken. He said while local coaches have proven to be competent, the domestic football landscape requires that they have more than one income stream to survive. “Even if they have a CAF A licence, the coaches will never survive on the meager salary they get from the clubs that is why they will opt to work from 08h00 to 17h00 and thereafter consider the coaching work,” Shipanga said. “There is one thing you cannot take away from local coaches and that is the passion and the love they have for sport,” he added. Shipanga argued that “some of these clubs do not respect coaches and that most of the time the conversation between a club and coach centers around the aspect of simply ‘helping out’ not a substantive offer”, as clubs rely on sponsorships and grants to sustain operations. The post Stars overlook part-time home coaches for top job appeared first on The Namibian.

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