Fired Coaches

By Samson Demissie Teffera

When I heard the news that the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) fired Walias head coach Yohannes Sahle on Wednesday, I said here we go again.

This is what I posted on Facebook on October 2014 after the EFF fired Coach Mariano Barreto.

“I hear some rumors that EFF might let go our new national team coach. While I disagree with Barreto’s initial approach excluding some of the key senior players, I feel strongly that he needs to be given adequate time to effect a positive change. Again, this is my personal opinion. Firing Barreto is not the answer.

Once again it seems like EFF is barking up the wrong tree. In the first place, they were wrong to let Gash Sewnet Bishaw go. True, he could have used an experienced technical advisor. And he could have worked on changing the culture of the team and building them the tools and a winning spirit and culture. But let him go, not to even let the new coach feel the team out and begin the huge shift required in both fans and players, not to mention the support staff and the underlying dogma of the group is a big mistake.

What happens a few months or years from now when the next coach has a string of failures, fire him/her too? The current state of Ethiopian football is not going to change with quick fixes.

EFF needs to work on creating the basic building blocks for a sustainable and globally competitive program. In a country where there is a serious lack of sport pitches and second and third division clubs, a top notch world class football coach won’t be able to do anything.

The national team should start at the junior level by nurturing kids from the ground up. Again this is my opinion, but I think it’s supported by the changes other teams underwent.”

Samson Demissie Teffera is the son of former Electric FC and Ethiopian national football team player, Demissie Teffera (Elvis). Visit his Facebook page here.

6 thoughts on “Firing Coaches is not the answer

  1. A look at what went wrong? Well, the first thing that went wrong was a competent coach took the job. What was he thinking? Did he believe they would give him the opportunity to build a team ? That went wrong.

    The second thing that went wrong was thinking the media would give him the opportunity and support to build His team. From the beginning many media outlets in Ethiopia questioned his credential
    And predation to coach . Many depend on the media to inform the public. If the media is biased, many believe the lies that are printed are true.

    The final thing that went wrong was the EFF firing Coach Yohannes. He was the right guy for the job. It is Ethiopia’s loss. They will recognize that much too late.

  2. Foot ball is not an overnight development. It a shame in a country with 100+ million people does not 11 skilled players who represent us at a national level. All EEF at different adm’n levels should take the responsibility for failing us at completion levels. so, as a writer said changing coaches does not bring the desired outcome anyway. The EEF need restructuring and start investing in youth group. I am tired of all this drama every now and then…

  3. Great artical! Thought provoking… Unfortunately EFF doesn’t have the personal educated in organized youth football. The one person who has a 20+ years of experience in that field just got fired…

  4. ዮሐንስ ሣሕሌ ባህርዩ ግትር፥ ንትርክ የሚወድ፥ እንዲያም ካለ ከግብግብ የማይመለስ ሰው ነው። ጋሽ ሰውነት የመላዊ ኣሠልጣኝነትን ክህሎት ከኣለቅነት ክብር ጋር ያጣመረ ሰው ነው። ተጫዋቾቹ እንደ ኣባት ይወዱታል፤ ያከብሩታል፥ ይታዘዙታል። ዮሐንስ ሣሕሌ በፍራቻ የሚያሰተዳድር ሰው ነው።

    ከሁሉም ግን፤ ኣቶ ዮሐንስ የእኔ ተልዕኮ የኢትዮጵያ ብሒራዊ ብዱን በፊት ከነበረበት ደረጃ በመጠኑም ቢሆን ከፍ ማድረግ ነው፥ ምንም ቢሆን ከዚያ ደረጃው በታች ካስኬድኩት ለእኔ ያ ውድቀት ነው፤ ሲል ተናግሯል። የቡድኑ ኣጨዋወት፥ ሥነልቦናዊ እርከን፥ ባጠቃላይ ሜዳ ሲገቡ የሚያሳዩት የራስ ኣመኔታ ገርዳፋ፥ ፅናት የሌለው እንደሆነ ያስታውቅ ነበር። ይህ ከምን መጣ? በእኔ ኣስተያየት ይህ የኣሠልጣን ድክመት ነው። ኣዎን ዓለምን መርታት የሚችሉ ተጫዋቾች የሉን ይሆናል፥ ይህ የሚታመን ነው። ነገር ገን ጋሽ ሰውነት ተመሳሳይ ተጫዋቾን ይዞ ነው ዓለምን ያስደመመ ውጤትና የኣጨዋወት ሁኔታ ያሳየው።

    የኣቶ ዮሐንስ መውጣት ትክክለኛና ግዜያዊ ኣግባብ ያለው ውሳኔ ነው።

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