The local football season begins this weekend with exciting matches across the country. If the hype around the preparations of the ‘big three’ during the off-season is anything to go by, then we are in for a blockbuster campaign.
Well, this is not only a gut feeling. In fact, far from it. At the beginning of every season, it’s always the same song from Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Silver Strikers to speak with one voice: “We have what it takes to challenge FCB Nyasa Big Bullets for all the top honours compared to the previous seasons.”
Ahead of the games on Saturday, these two teams have spoken again, vowing to end Bullets’s dominance which saw them winning every trophy in Malawi.
Wanderers, with Nsazurwimo Ramadan, and Silver, with Peter Mponda, who was Kalisto Pasuwa’s assistant coach for three seasons, have one enemy in common; Bullets.
Looking at the team’s activities on the transfer market, one would predict another Bullets-dominating season after they boosted their squad with quality signings.
As for Mponda, he was also given a fat chequebook to add more firepower to his squad. But looking at how the team performed against Bullets in the NBS Bank Charity Shield Cup in Lilongwe, the evidence of more work to do was there for everyone to see because his side struggled against a newly assembled team which saw Pasuwa resting several key players against the Bankers who used 80 per cent of their squad.
At Lali Lubani, unlike last season where they made more signings, they have just brought in three new additions to their team, but, they are highly motivated following Thom Mpinganjira’s commitment to continue bankrolling the blue side of the town.
Will Bullets be stopped?
The likes of Wanderers and Silver and to a lesser extent, Civil Service United, should be doing more to pull closer to Bullets, who have won the title for the fifth consecutive time. Instead, they keep on regressing as Bullets seemingly surges forward.
Wanderers certainly have the squad depth and quality to run Bullets close each season. However, inconsistency has been to their detriment in recent years, apart from the 2017 season in which they gave it all to win the league.
One game, they are a hurricane, ploughing through everything in their way. The next one, they are a gentle breeze on a lovely summer’s day.
For example, Bullets conceded early against Dedza Dynamos at Dedza Stadium and at the same time, Wanderers were hosting Mighty Tigers at Kamuzu Stadium.
A goal would have seen them moving top of the table and possibly pip their rivals to the title. But, they failed to push for a win as they drew 0-0, dropping further down into the pecking order.
Bullets, on the other hand, are the masters of being effective and productive, even on a rare bad day. In four difficult matches against Kamuzu Barracks, Bangwe All Stars, Civil and Karonga United, they got the much-needed points under very difficult circumstances. When the going gets tough, they raise the bar to fend off pressure from fellow title contenders.
The Bankers did push them right to the finish line last season under Pieter De Jhong. The two teams faced off in the final match of last season’s campaign with just three points separating them.
A convincing win for De Jhong’s side would have seen them winning the title on the very last day. However, even as Bullets held on to register an important draw to seal their 17th league title, there was a sense of inevitability and no real shock expect from those associated with the once mighty Bankers.
This is because even as they led from the front throughout the majority of first-round games, Silver seemed to lack the aura that usually hovers around teams that are world-beaters, an aura which Bullets have in abundance. They won games, but hardly struck any fear into their opposition.
Their 2-1 loss at the hands of Civil at their home base of BNS no less, shows just how far the Bankers have fallen.
Until they, as well as Wanderers, regain that intimidating factor, the only team that can stop the dominance of the Blantyre giants are Bullets themselves.
The newly promoted Crerk Sporting Club, thanks in large measure to their ambitious owner Clifford Kawinga, might rise to compete against Bullets in the distant future. However, it will take some years before they reach the level of institutional soundness and cohesion achieved by Bullets.
Since earning a promotion to the elite league, Kawinga has shown that he is not afraid to invest in the team’s success. Although, for now, Crerk don’t have the reputational pulling power of Bullets, or even Wanderers and Silver, they have the financial muscle to challenge the three teams on the market as witnessed by their interest to sign Bullets’ duo of Lanjesi Nkhoma and Patrick Mwaungulu and Wanderers’s Wisdom Mpinganjira.
The People’s Team has a winning spirit that the two teams lack, the synergy and tactical continuity to foster a winning culture that the players want to be part of.
As it stands, it seems to be another season where they will undoubtedly have to work hard for silverware, but another season where winning their sixth league title on the trot is likely if not inevitable. Unless their rivals pull up their socks, as it is still too early to predict how they will fare.
