The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
PEOPLE address you by the way you dress!
This is probably one take home lessons that fans who recently watched the Castle Lager Premiership derby pitting Manica Diamonds and Tenax C.S FC got after coach, Johanisi Nhumwa’s jacket sent tongues wagging on the terraces during the match.
With some sort of a bomber jacket, Nhumwa took to the dugout clad in this visibly heavy coat with a zip closure with a wind flap as well as a high collar.
Typical of American hip-hop style of stage dressing, with elasticised cuffs and waist, which offered major insulation against the cold, Nhumwa must have done well to keep warm during the 90 minutes he watched from the touchline on a chilly Sunday afternoon as his team prevailed over their cross-town rivals by a solitary goal.
But the former Masvingo United coach’s dressing attracted a fair share of criticism and jokes from fans on the terraces.
Gerald Mtetwa said: “I think there is a reason why he dressed like that. It cannot be about the cold weather because the team has tracksuits with jackets and the weather was not very, very cold to warrant that type of dressing. I would not know the actual reason, but from a professional point of view, he just has to improve on his dressing and avoid unnecessary attention.”
Gift Mugeri said: “I think there is something that he uses that jacket for. We know these coaches very well. It won’t be surprising to learn that it has something to do with juju. That jacket could have spent the night before the match with a traditional healer or spiritualist. No wonder Tenax C.S FC did all they could, but could not win the match.”
Sharon Mutambikwa said: “I would not want to allege that he did it for other reasons other than keeping warm, but hey, the guy looked weird for a football coach on the bench. It looked funny on him and we also joked about it.”
The moral of this story is that when football coaches are in the dugout, they are in the office, working and most coaches respect their technical areas such that they dress just like everyone else at their work place.
