That's Me Wherever I Go

As a coach, former Kaizer Chiefs striker Wedson Nyirenda prides himself on being blessed with the mentality of a winner. So much that when talking about his past achievements in the realm of coaching, you can almost never miss the sparkle in his eye, and often this trip down memory lane will be accompanied by a smile that tells a story of contentment and achievement. He has built up a reputation, across all three countries he has worked in, of turning socalled ordinary teams into respected outfits. He did it with Baroka FC, helping them to annex the 2018 Telkom Knockout trophy much against many people’s expectations. However, the going has since gotten tougher, and the Limpopo side is (still) struggling to score goals this season. What is going on? Is Nyirenda going to jump ship and go back to his previous role as Zambia national team coach, as the rumour mill seems to suggest? Nyirenda provides the answers in this chat with Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo.

- Beaver Nazo

Beaver Nazo: Coach, let’s first talk transfer business. One of the latest arrivals at Baroka FC is Prince Nxumalo. Has he been brought in to solve your struggles up front, seeing you’ve only scored seven goals in 11 league matches?

Wedson Nyirenda: Yes. I mean, when you have the problem that we’re having, you try and get players that you think can solve it. I know Prince well and I know that he is a proven goalscorer, but I haven’t seen much of him in recent years. However, like I said, we are working on his fitness. Maybe having him here will help us get some goals.

BN: He found the back of the net in his second game for the club...

WN: The boy has got many qualities of a good striker. He looks in good shape and I am happy with what I have seen. His decision-making has been fantastic. All he needs is support from his teammates and we also need to get one or two more strikers because we cannot afford a situation where we are depending on him. He will get to a point where he feels, ‘Okay, I will play every week,’ and we don’t want to see that happening. He needs some competition. But Prince is a good striker and his teammates need to support him.

BN: Speaking of your struggles up front…

WN: (Cuts in) If you look at last season, we had the same problem where we would create eight to 10 scoring chances, not just chances but mainly clear-cut chances, and we wouldn’t capitalise on them. We need to be putting the ball in the back of the net for us to win games. At the end of the day, you make one mistake at the back and you get punished by opponents and you think of all the chances you missed.