It has almost been two years since Stanley Tshosane was unceremoniously fired as the head coach of the senior national team, Zebras. Since his tersely departure, we have not heard much of him despite all the impeccable knowledge and achievements he has as a coach.
Tshosane has been occasionally helping Mogoditshane Fighters to get promotion back to the Premier League. Apart from that, he has been a quiet man as far as football matters are concerned. Tshosane won many trophies at BDF XI including the League Championships and the highlight of his career was when he led Botswana’s national team, Zebras to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) for the first time in history. At that point, many people would have thought that Tshosane would have immediately been at the helm of any top team in the country, or be involved with football matters on a day to day basis since vacating his post at the Zebras.
Tshosane however told Sunday Standard that he will never be lost to football because it is in his blood. He said he is currently busy with some of his personal projects and would only at a later stage be involved with football one way or the other. “Honestly speaking I have never been short of lucrative offers since parting ways with Zebras and some were even from outside the country. But after being shown the door I had to concentrate on some of personal projects that were lagging behind and that is what I am still busy doing currently. However, i will never be lost to football,” he said. Despite making history by taking Botswana’s national team to their first ever Afcon, Tshosane was never good enough together with his technical team to the current national Executive Committee led by Tebogo Sebego. He was replaced by Briton, Peter James Butler who had questionable credentials prior to his appointment.
Butler has since come under harsh criticism even from the people with technical knowhow of the game. Most people are saying he has failed to lead the team and should step down. What is compounding the problem are his outbursts on the social media.
Tshosane, however, refused comment on the current status of the Zebras. He said as the predecessor of the national team it would not be appropriate for him to make a statement. He, however, said more efforts and emphasis must be put on the national junior teams of the country. He even added that he wouldn’t mind in the future to work with junior teams of the country saying they are the future of football.
