…ink is thicker than water Bra Boet
LET me welcome you, our dear readers, to the first edition of the year 2014 of your favourite weekly sports column, Shooting from the Hip, where what you see is what you get with no favours asked or given.
After an extended well-deserved hiatus from the business of pen pushing, it’s time to get the ball rolling and yours truly believes its only fitting to start with issues concerning the beautiful game. Yours truly has been following with keen interest the latest news about the imminent transfer of African Stars pair of Deon Hotto and Chris Katjiukua to South African Professional Soccer League (PSL) strugglers Golden Arrows, which has been greeted with misplaced enthusiasm in certain quarters of the local community. While we should embrace opportunities afforded to our players to ply their trade beyond our borders, one should not allow the detailed description that comes along with playing professional football to entice us to overlook the statistical reality. Regrettably, as it stands, Namibia has a significant number of regular Brave Warriors campaigners contracted to various clubs in the filthy rich PSL, but only two, to be precise, are getting decent game time with their respective clubs. Henrico Botes and Stigga Ketjijere and to a lesser extent Larry Horaeb before he was injured are the only competitive players in the PSL, while the likes of Pineas Jacob, Sadney Uri-Khob, Petrus Shitembi, Dudes Mwedihanga, Rudolf Bester, Heini Isaacks, and Virgil Vries are all perennial bench-warmers or for the most part watch their average team mates from the stands. We should guard against being exploited by clubs and greedy so-called football agents, who are out to make a quick buck without considering the consequences of these transfers.
It’s a well-documented secret that Namibian clubs are in financial dire straits, but these very same clubs unintentionally allow themselves to fall hook, line and sinker into the hands of unscrupulous ten-percenters. Namibian football is becoming a flea market for those okes, where clubs can buy one player and get one for free if the reported, laughable pittance called a transfer fee is true. Today’s economic and social environment has increasingly become market-driven, no bones about that. As a result, moolah has now replaced or has been raised to the status of the Almighty and is sought with excessive zeal.
Another bone of contention is the genuine intention of African Stars, who have promised to make a serious statement about their forthcoming participation in the continental CAF Confederation Cup competition. That said, it goes beyond any comprehension why Stars should sell two of their most valuable players for a song at this crucial stage and does it really make any football sense to ship out established squad members, while the club is in a good position to win the league title that comes along with a cool one million dollars? I’m just asking. It’s interesting to note that Golden Arrows is seriously staring relegation in the face and could become statistics in topflight football at the end of the current term. In my experience most clubs that are marooned at the bottom of the log table going into the second round usually find themselves kissing goodbye to topflight action by the end of the season. Another factor that ought to be taken into consideration is the position of the coach who signed the players – the poor brother is in grave danger of being ushered through the exit door if results are not forthcoming. As a result, his departure can have dire consequences on the immediate future of his new recruits. Ever wondered why the Brave Warriors are struggling to stamp their authority and unleash their full potential in continental competitions.
As long as we depend and put faith in players who are benchwarmers and hardly see any action with their respective clubs – yours truly is afraid our football will remain in idling mode until kingdom come. We should refrain by all means from embracing mediocrity, with such zeal. In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to bid farewell to a good friend and one of the most accomplished sports writers ever to have emerged from our neck of the woods, Lionel ‘Boet’ Mathews, who took an enforced retreat from the craft of pen-pushing, because of a persistent back ailment. Not only is Boet a salted sports writer, he was blessed with a keen eye and wit and managed to develop his own unique style of writing. What weighed heavily in his favour was his humility, great sense of humour and ability to communicate with fellow sports writers. We were linked by more than the ink flowing in our veins. Truth to be told, Boet and I never really considered ourselves enemies, because he worked for an Afrikaans daily. Bra Boet, I wish you all the best and hope you will be able to plough back into society the experience gained through years of sports writing. I rest my case.