Windhoek
The pressure of coaching in the country’s topflight football league finally took its toll on one of the coaches of a leading football club.
MTC Premiership coastal giants LHU Blue Waters became coach-less when newly appointed mentor, Gerhard Gunther, found the heat too much to handle in the boiling kitchen of local derbies.
News reaching our sports crew is that the often hot-headed Gunther had developed itchy feet in the aftermath of the Birds’ 1 – 0 defeat in last weekend’s coastal derby against bitter rivals Eleven Arrows.
There is little love lost between the two coastal giants and matches between the two sides are always tightly contested, with no quarter asked or given.
After having to live in the shadow of their more celebrated neighbours and in a desperate bid to shake off their tag of being regarded relegation fodder, Arrows moved swiftly and beefed up their technical department by re-employing former mentor Lucky Shipanga.
The usually calculated and cool-headed Shipanga, better known as ‘Wire” during his playing days with both coastal giants Blue Waters and Arrows, took over the coaching reigns at his former club.
The former stocky winger immediately knuckled down to some serious business and rang the changes, getting rid of the club’s deadwood and replacing them with a number of ambitious young players to bolster the squad.
Arrows unusually sit in a comfortable 4th place behind African Stars, Black Africa and log leaders Tigers – in that order.
A source close to Blue Waters confirmed to New Era Sport that the defeat against Arrows was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
“It’s customary practice for our club to conduct match reviews after every match and all parties concluded that he (Gunther) was not the right man to take us forward. After a string of poor results in seven matches, it was extremely important for club management to take action and make drastic changes,” revealed a club official with intimate knowledge of the issue.
Contrary to reports that Gunther has resigned, the club was quick to defuse such talks saying he has been merely redeployed to the club’s youth structures where he would be better utilized.
Meanwhile, the club has reinstalled former blue-eyed boy Armando Pedro as head in a temporary capacity until a suitable candidate is found. Club stalwarts Fisher Kalimba and Kulu Hawala will assist Pedro in the technical department.