“I will not put you to shame” – new Power coach
Newly appointed Power Dynamos Football Club (“Power”) head coach, Mr. Guston Mutobo, has assured the club’s sponsor, Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) and its supporters, that he would not put them to shame but would work hard to turn around the Club’s dwindling fortunes.
Mutobo spoke during his introduction to CEC and club supporters’ representatives at the CEC head office in Kitwe on 30th September.
Likening himself to the biblical prodigal son, Mutobo said “I have come back home, I am like a son who went away and has come back to its father. I promise you that I will do my best to ensure you laugh, not smile but laugh.”
“The results on the pitch will eventually speak for themselves,” he emphasized.
The appointment of the veteran coach, who comes with over 20 years of coaching experience, has been received with mixed feelings among supporters and critics; with some expressing confidence in his talent management and team building abilities going by his past successes at Arthur Davies while others feel Power should have settled for a younger coach well placed to manage ‘modern’ football.
And CEC Managing Director, Mr. Owen Silavwe, revealed that the sponsor was fully aware that the club was going through challenging times and had for some time struggled to find success, leading to discontent among its loyal supporters.
Silavwe advised that even in the face of massive challenges, “it is important that we keep our cool and find solutions to the problems we are faced with” and that he believed the new coach, with the support of all stakeholders, could bring about the success everyone sought because he (Mutobo) had a fair understanding of the team’s current shortcomings and brings with him solutions.
“I understand that the morale among players may be low at the moment, and that they are looking for motivation in a figure that is going to uplift their spirits”
Silavwe, who has also previously served as Club Chairman, encouraged the new coach and his bench to work at proving himself by leveraging his experience, and appealed to the Club’s supporters to rally behind the team because success would only be assured if all parties pulled in the same direction.
Silavwe also addressed the trophy drought at Arthur Davies from a sponsorship perspective: “The Company’s continued support to Power is informed primarily by CEC’s corporate social responsibility philosophy, which among other beneficiaries, targets youth development and empowerment through the provision of skills and employment. Power Dynamos is CEC’s ‘baby’, we love to support the club because our communities love it. When our communities are happy, we get satisfaction from that. And each time we see Power Dynamos players in international leagues, that is a trophy to us. Youths crafting careers, earning a living and providing for their families means success to us. That is, however, not to say that we should not seek trophies on the pitch.”
He opined that the boys, relatively good players, needed someone to make them believe in themselves again and bring the best out of them because “we are not about to give up but should all focus on building a good team for the future and rewrite history in a positive way.”
Events in pictures
