It is a known fact that coaches have a short lifespan at South African club Chippa United, thanks to trigger-happy owner Siviwe Mpengesi. In the past month alone he fired two coaches, the hardworking Clinton Larsen and sacked Larsen's replacement Duran Francis after just two matches.
Today, on October 1, the club announced Norman Mapeza as the new coach but that's not the end of the coaches' merry-go-round horror story at Chippa United. When Mapeza finally takes over the hot seat, the current stand-in coach Mbuyiselo Sambu, who was in charge when United lost 1-0 to visiting Bidvest Wits today, would have to make way. That will mean the Chilli Boys would take instruction from the fourth coach in just over three weeks!
I suspect that's a world record, however, I want to believe Mpengesi is looking for longevity in Mapeza. Staying power and indomitable spirit is what the former Zimbabwe international is known for, both in his playing and coaching careers. For example, when he parted ways with his last club FC Platinum earlier last month, Mapeza had been with the Zimbabwean league champions for five seasons. It was a successful career with many trophies and including participation in the CAF Champions League, a much much big deal for previously unfashionable team from a mining town of Zvishavane. They were top of the log and on track for a third back-to-back title when he quit on September 12.
In 1993, at the age of 21, Mapeza left Zimbabwe to join Polish team Sokol Pniewy. Poland is not an easy place for foreigners, let one from Africa, due to weather, culture and language. But Mapeza was undauted and went on to face it all in that Eastern Europe state. After one season, he moved to Turkey where he spent nine years playing for clubs such as Galatasaray and Malatyaspor, with a year in-between spent at Austria's SV Ried. Even Jabu Pule (Mahlangu) never survived Austria's dour atmosphere.
In 2003, Mapeza returned to Africa for the last two seasons of his playing career - first with CAPS United of his home town Harare and won the championship, and then Ajax Cape Town. He also won the Zim championship with now defunct Monomota, also of Harare, as coach in 2008. The stint he served as FC Platinum coach is hailed as the longest in the Zim Premier League, and another pointer that that's what Mpengesi is looking for is that he offered Mapeza a three-year contract with an option to extend.
The no-nosense and yet somewhat controversial Mapeza is not afraid to rough it up with allcomers, big or small. The same mentality was in his approach to the game as a player, either in defence or midfield.
The former Zimbabwe captain was also in the radar for the national team job, only for the Zim FA to be told by Mapeza manager that he would be available in January 2020. In 2012, he lost his job with the Warriors over match fixing allegations. He was subsequently banned from football for six months by Zifa. But in 2017, the association asked him to lead the Warriors against Liberia in Afcon qualifiers and won that match 3-0. This time it would appear that Zifa wishes would remain a pipe-dream... for now, unless Mpengesi pulls out a high calibre gun to take out Mapeza in due course.
Welcome back to South Africa, Takanyariwa!
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