FCB Nyasa Big Bullets head coach Kalisto Pasuwa spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s Airtel Top 8 final against Silver Strikers at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
He tackled several issues, including Bullets’ preparations, the opposition, fixtures, and how he intends to break the jinx of failing to win this competition at Saturday’s venue.
The head coach also commented on Hassan Kajoke for the first time since the forward’s suspension in July.
Below is the full transcript of Pasuwa’s media briefing.
On the preparations for Saturday’s final…
Like always, maybe coming from the game that we played last Wednesday, as you know, the problem which we have been facing as Bullets is the fixture congestion, but again, going into the final, maybe with only a day of training, is something else that as coaches, we need to sit down and see how best we can manage it for us to have a result but that’s what is there. Yesterday, we played; today is for recovery, and then tomorrow, we are traveling. On Saturday, we played a game. So, as you can see here, we are not going to train anymore. Maybe we will try our level best to manage these boys in terms of recovery. Then, on the day of the game or even in the morning, we try to do tactical or increase the intensity so that they can be ready, but everyone knows what is needed in a cup final. They [Silver Strikers] have been doing well, maybe domestically, and we are not underrating any team. We will go there with the right sense of attitude in order for us to have a good result.
On whether Bullets have given up on the league title…
No, we haven’t been doing that. Of course, sometimes, it’s the way the players approach when they get into the field of play. Like I told you last time to say no, we are still playing games, we still have more games until the end of the season and to each and everyone they know, even in the league matches, they are given money; in the cup games, they are also given money. So, they need to play well in every competition in order for them to get the money that is left for us to go to the end of the season. So, I think, maybe also in them, they know a cup game is a knockout stage where after playing, you are knocked out if you don’t win, so that’s why they are putting enough energy when they are playing.
On the frequent revision and congested fixtures…
I think I am one person trying to raise these points, complaining. I remember when we were starting off the season, we went to Karonga. We were told that we were playing two games in Karonga. We played the first game against Chitipa, we won, and in the morning, we woke up, and we were going for recovery, then tomorrow we are playing [against Baka City], and heard and in the last minute to say you are supposed to go back, to play in Blantyre. So, as coaches, this is something that will end up disturbing us. We do our planning, and you are told on the day of the game that you are no longer playing, and it becomes an issue. We have been having so many fixtures that were changed, but we have tried to raise a complaint but to no avail even when we were playing the CAF Champions League to say we can’t play a game when we are playing a Champions League [match] but no one listened, but unfortunately, we couldn’t keep on complaining about something that we can’t have a hand in it. We were just playing, and we went quiet.
On what would be the difference facing Silver Strikers, who beat us in the league at home…
In games, mostly, that’s one area I have been trying to teach my players. If you saw in that game [at Kamuzu Stadium in the TNM Super League first round], we were playing very well, and the game was stopped, and from that stoppage, when we started again, we were scored. Then, if you look at all the games that we have played against Wanderers, the same things happened, and what is it that we are failing to do that can make us correct the mistakes every time? If you do it the first time, second time and third time, then it becomes a habit. That’s something that needs to be corrected; you sit down and talk about it, and we have been talking to the players and everyone in the team so that we can correct all these mistakes that we make so that we can have a win. We played very well against Silver, but we lost points at the end of the day. Then what is it that we need as a club? We also need to be offensive. Then, if you are offensive, at the end of the day, if you close the door, you close.
On having pressure of playing every cup final as defending champions…
Yes, that’s something else also, but as Bullets, maybe I have seen it in several years, we have been doing it, we have been playing very well, and it’s just very unfortunate that this year, maybe at times, we were faltering where we were having problems of sickness, problems of injuries and also some of the fixtures like the champions league was on us, so the games were not being given time to do our recovery. Then you can see at times, if you are not careful, you can play players without recovery. Recovery is part of training. Players need to recover and remember that’s a human body that needs to recover at the end of the day, but as a club, we have been doing it well. Unfortunately, we have been faltering where it matters most.
On breaking the winless Airtel Top 8 final run at the BNS…
It’s all about mindset. I have been telling the players to have a positive mindset. The last load that played in Lilongwe and the last load that played the cup final in Blantyre were different from them. We have new names that came in. So, we should have to make our mark on that. We should have to fight for ourselves in order to be in the club’s good history books.
On Maxwell Phodo’s injury and team news…
That’s something else. On that one, I can’t go into it. We gave it to the doctors. A concussion is something serious, and I even saw it when he fell down; it took some minutes for people to leave him down, which is something that we still need to sit down and talk about. One day, a player will die, and we will lose a player out of negligence. We quickly need to notice those injuries when we are playing games, but again, we improve each and every game that we play, and I think we will improve on that. To some of the guys who are sick, we had some of these guys who had flu. Wongani Lungu, Richard Chimbamba had flu, so we have to hear from the doctors to see if they are okay.
On Hassan Kajoke’s return…
On Kajoke’s issue, I don’t know what the boy is thinking about. You know, you are a son, maybe your father has punished you. Then, if the father has punished you, can you disappear for good and even come to greet your father? Then, it becomes an issue. As of now, we don’t know where he is. He hasn’t even come to watch games or see some of his friends training. I don’t know what he is thinking, and I have been coaching players. Players need to be humble, and I think had he come to the bosses to say, ‘I made a mistake on this and that’, maybe we could have gone back to think about him, but now, as the coach of the team or anyone in the team, nobody knows where he is, I am sorry on that on. I can’t talk much of him. I can only talk about the players who are with me right now.
