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Sports Reporter

THE appointment of a new Warriors gaffer Michael Nees by the Zifa Normalisation Committee on Tuesday, has been met with mixed feelings by various football stakeholders.

The German tactician was tasked with leading a new era of accomplishment for the country’s flagship football team. He comes in as a replacement of the last substantive Warriors coach, Zdravko Logarusic who was axed in 2022.

Before his appointment, veteran coaches, Joey Antipas, Sunday Chidzambwa, Baltemar Brito, Norman Mapeza and Jairos Tapera have all taken turns to be in charge on an interim basis over the years.
Zimpapers Sports caught up with former Highlanders and Warriors midfield maestro, Johannes Ngodzo — who is head coach at Southern Region Division One outfit, Adachi who believes that the new gaffer should be given time.

Ngodzo is of the view that Nees is neutral, therefore, will be treating every player fairly and not be biased.“I think we needed a foreign coach, someone without favouritism and will be neutral. A national team coach needs to be someone who is neutral, picking players based on form and not being influenced by player agents,” said Ngodzo.

Former Warriors, AmaZulu, Highlanders, How Mine, Bantu Rovers and Legia Warsaw steely defender Hebert Dick believes that Nees should be given all the support he needs to take the national team forward.

Despite not knowing much about the Warriors’ new tactician, Dick said he will be able to grind good results. “To be honest, I don’t know much about the guy, that’s the truth. I just learnt about him now but I’m sure with good administration he will give us results.

He has been coaching for some time and all we need to do is to support him. We need to give him the resources he needs to take the Warriors forward,” said Dick. Nees, who beat four other foreign coaches including fellow countrymen Antoine Hey and Winfried Schafer, Brazilian Marcio Maximo Barcellos and Gerard Nus Casanova of Spain, last worked as manager of the Kosovo national Under-21 team.

He had a stint as a technical advisor for South Africa from 2008 to 2009. Over the past 25 years, Nees has held elite coaching and technical leadership positions across Africa, Europe and Asia. He has guided various national teams in over 200 international matches.

Douglas ‘British’ Mloyi

Notably, in 2005 and 2006, he was part of the support staff for the England national team during the Fifa World Cup 2006 in Germany, under the auspices of Fifa. Highlanders legend, Douglas “British” Mloyi said he expected that a local coach would be given the task of leading the national team, but with the coming in of Nees, he has to make sure that he gets good players to don national colours.

Mloyi added that he hopes that Nees would follow in the footsteps of Dream Team coach, Reinhard Fabisch who used to go around the country scouting for the best talent. “To tell the truth, I was surprised.

I thought that a local guy would get the job but I don’t know how this will turn out (Afcon and World Cup Qualifiers). It will all depend on Nees, how good he is and the availability of good players to produce good results.

We should not rely heavily on the coach.  If you look at Fabisch, he was clever, he toured the nation, scouting for players and things went well during his time,” said Mloyi. Football legends are not the only ones who had something to say about the new gaffer.

Fans also weighed in with Melusi Sibanda saying that Nees should be given the benefit of doubt. He has faith that, without interference on his coaching and team selection, he would be able to take the Warriors forward.

“I think it’s a good move although we don’t have much information about him but I believe he will do better compared to the other coaches who came before him. I think he should be allowed to do his job freely without any interference.

Let him select his own players, go around the country, and scout for talent and even watch the foreign-based players so that he makes an informed decision when it comes to selection. We don’t want that thing of hearing that so and so is responsible for picking players, the coach should pick his own team so that he is held accountable if things don’t go well,” said Sibanda.

Nees has extensive experience including serving as the head coach of the Rwanda senior men’s national team and the director of coaching and education at the South African Football Association (SAFA).
His deep knowledge of the African football landscape and his innovative approach are expected to provide a significant advantage in the upcoming Afcon qualification campaign.

The Warriors begin their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification assignment against Kenya in September and conclude the campaign in November before shifting focus to the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers that resume next year in March.