The attention that has been given to match officials in recent weeks continues to divide opinion. We’ve seen coaches coming short of swearing at the match officials and questioning their decisions, when the dice doesn’t fall for them. Now this is becoming a serious cause for concern as it borders on putting the DStv Premiership and its sponsors into disrepute. The list of coaches complaining about referees in their post-match interviews is slowly getting out of hand. Having said that, the coaches are starting to look and sound silly in their interviews.
Regular readers of this column will remember the suggestion made here, almost a year ago, that coaches should be given more time before facing a microphone after the final whistle. You see, coaches need to be given enough time to gather their thoughts, calm their blood pressure and compose themselves after the final whistle blows, before they can give their summation of the game. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence for a coach to maintain a calm demeaner, especially after a loss and a couple of questionable decisions against him. It is not easy to deal with the facts, not emotions, and remain rationale in the analysis of the game. Not everyone is going to master that skill because, unfortunately, not everyone has it in them. There are several issues that need to be addressed in our football. The powers-that-be at the PSL need to seriously consider allowing the coaches some breathing space after the game so that they can gather their thoughts and consult with their analysts and technical team members, if necessary, before they are faced with questions.
Maybe it is time clubs also invested in technology where there is a technical team debrief immediately after the final whistle where the coach will go through their data immediately and see what really happened, not just what they think happened, before they go and make public statements without facts. That will go a long way in saving our coaches from themselves, as they are sometimes found wanting and completely ‘off-side’ with their remarks on incidents that took place in the game. If there are specific incidents the coach wants to address, he can be briefed on those immediately after the game so that he goes on air fully armed with facts rather than going on an emotional rant only to look silly and stupid later on. By so doing, the coach will be rational in his analysis and armed with conclusive evidence for the interview.
