Newly-appointed African Stars football director Ricardo Mannetti has set out his master plan to transform the Katutura football giants into a formidable club that will not only dominate and lead the way locally, but one that will leave gigantic footprints on the continent.
He assumed duty on Monday.
In a brief chat with New Era Sport, Mannetti shared his excitement to serve Stars as its football director, saying top of his list of priorities will be to establish strong administrative and technical structures to help the club achieve its long-term objectives. The former Brave Warriors gaffer, who in 2015 guided the national team to their first-ever Cosafa Cup success, said his vision is encompassed around making sure Stars continue to be the leading brand of Namibian football – on and off the field. “Firstly, I’m excited that football started, and I’m also looking forward to serving football through the biggest brand in local football. It’s quite a huge and exciting responsibility. But as a team, we will work towards improving structures within the club as that will form a strong foundation for Stars to compete on and off the field with other big clubs within our region,” said the Namibian football great.
“It is also my job to ensure Stars becomes the flagship team in Namibia when it comes to operations, administration and dominance on the field; not forgetting to make an impact in African competitions.” The director of football at major clubs usually forms part of the senior management at a club. Their responsibilities can vary from club to club, with some being heavily involved in all aspects of the business, including the hiring and firing of managers, scouting, recruitment of players, long-term strategy and the improvement of facilities.
In other cases, the role can be slightly more specialised, depending on an individual’s particular talents. A football director is very much different from a first-team coach, which in Stars’ case is Mervin Mbakera. But they work closely with each other and occasionally, situations have arisen whereby football directors have temporarily taken the reins of the first team.
Day-to-day, they generally serve as a sort of buffer between the first-team coach and the board of a club. The idea is to allow the first-team coach to focus fully on preparations for games and on-field issues, while also providing input about potential targets. - ohembapu@nepc.com.na