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AN online blog, soccer window, reasserted recently that it is more than 2,000 years ago that the great Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do”. It argues these were rather plain and obvious words, but with such a truly remarkable and mindful message. Self-discipline facilitates goals and keeps our attitude elevated. You can even say that discipline is the foundation of happiness and the uttermost requirement for success.

Discipline is key in all spheres of life, and the situation becomes more demanding for public figures like football players whom the society expects to behave in a certain way and embody characters of role models that our little brothers and sisters can look up to.

Another academy coach overseas argued that discipline has been lost everywhere, and football was the last fortress to keep it alive. He said every good football coach knows you can be the greatest mind in the world when it comes to strategy, but if you don’t train your troops, it’s all a waste. In football, we are training troops, he said, referring to players.

“We’re teaching kids traits desired by many professions, including the military. I took my team on a trip to West Point a few years ago. I wasn’t surprised to find out that every freshman cadet was required to play on an intramural football team. Because in football, we’re teaching kids hustle, determination, teamwork, effort, discipline, intelligence and that hard work pays off.”

In summing up the last season, Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said he believed lack of discipline among players was the root of their disastrous campaign.

“Too much money and too much time on the players’ hands was nearly a recipe for disaster last season. It affected our campaign. We had to resort to two training sessions per day and that kept the players on check. We must say Cosmas Zulu restored normalcy to the club. Nowhere could a player manage to buy a bottle of Viceroy between 11AM and 2PM.  Zulu and (Mark) Mathe were not there to make numbers. Tsano is the one who introduced the idea of having two training sessions. He did a sterling job,” said the veteran football administrator.

In the past season, Highlanders were rocked by indiscipline cases that saw veteran striker  Njabulo “Tshiki” Ncube being  suspended for two weeks while Charles Sibanda and Joel Ngodzo were given final warnings. Battle-hardened midfielder Mthulisi Maphosa had a brush with the law for assault, and a lot other players were rumoured to have had run ins with authorities over indiscipline, and in announcing that the club had parted ways with about seven players ahead of the new season, Gumede said some had their contracts not renewed for below par performances while others were released because of indiscipline.

“The coach has decided which players he will retain. The club had a review of the performance of the team last year based on a report that was given to the executive committee. A list of players who would be released and those that we would not was drawn up.  The list was handed over to the human resources committee. However, since a new coach (Bongani Mafu) was coming this was given what I would say was an abeyance, meaning that matter was not pursued. He (Mafu) has drawn up his own list of players that he thinks will not fit in his plans.

“That falls into three categories and that is; disciplinary — in the case of Mthulisi Maphosa, who has a case with the courts for which he was ordered to perform community service and players  whose contracts have expired, and those that do not fit in the coach’s plans. I don’t have the file here with me with the other players.”

Other players who the media reported this week had been shown the door were Joel “Josta” Ngodzo, Dumisani “Fazo” Ndlovu, Njabulo “Tshiki” Ncube, Hillary Madzivanyika, Tapiwa Dephistara and goalkeeper Njabulo “Popo” Nyoni.

However, it remains to be seen what would happen with the case involving Maphosa, as the club has said he should appear before a disciplinary committee for bringing the name of the club into disrepute, a clear indication that he is still their employee, in legal terms, because you can not call to a disciplinary hearing your former employee. This suggests that Maphosa, a tried and tested midfielder whose leadership skills on the pitch have not been questioned, might bounce back, depending on how the committee and the coach feel. Apart from his issues off the pitch, there is no doubt that he still has something to offer on the field of play, especially at a time when the club has released a number of seniors players.

Apart from the Maphosa case, one player who got everyone I met talking was midfielder Ngodzo. When he broke into the first team, he was billed for greater heights and even impressed South Africa’s legendary Jomo Sono, who had come to the country with his team, Jomo Cosmos for a friendly. When he broke into the national team and everyone expected him to be part of the core of the Warriors in the years to come, he was snapped for mega bucks by FC Platinum, where he, because of injury or other yet to be known reasons, found himself playing second fiddle to “nobodys”, and on those occasions that he was thrust into the starting XI, he reminded everyone of why he was touted as the next big deal in local football.

He came back to Highlanders last season after seeing through his contract at FC Platinum, and the nation expected him to rediscover himself, but yet again, he did not reach his full potential and I can tell you, Bosso fans wanted him to stay, because he is a Bosso son and because they believe he is yet to rediscover himself and they believed, once he gets back his groove, he will carry the club on his shoulders. And  even at the expense of being labelled a Josta fan, I also believe he has some football  left in him.

At 25, yes, he should be playing in a better league because of the potential he displayed as a teenager, but still, he can still pick  himself up and fight for his place among the big boys in local football. It’s certainly not about talent. When it comes to talent, very few footballers are blessed as he is, it should be something else that coaches who have worked with him in recent years have failed to address. It will be sad to see such talent go to waste.

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