OPEN LETTER TO NAPSA STARS FC:
One step forward, two steps backward
Dear Napsa Stars Exco
I have always been of the view that Napsa Stars have the capacity to be one of the great clubs in the country.
This view is however challenged by the fact that Napsa seem to fail to maintain as team each season that passes.
One can bet their last coin that every season Napsa is destined to lose one or two of its key players.
In the run up to the 2017 season, I thought the club was getting into some serious business and things had changed, but I guess I was wrong. This season Napsa has proved again that they are nothing but an academy.
The trend of losing key players at the end of season has to come to an end if you are to have any realistic chance to compete at the highest level in the coming seasons on the domestic calendar.
Take some self-introspection about what happened to you last year.
The first part was that of fighting for the title or may I say realistically fighting for the top four. You led the league for a good number of weeks before you released some players and we were back to the Napsa Stars we know. Made amends and top four was a bridge too far….. finished seventh.
You were a good team at the start of 2017 and let me also congratulate you for making it in the final of the Barclays Cup. But already with the exits we are seeing, it looks like it will take another planning for you to get back to were you ended in the past season.
Best players
They are all gone
1. Solomon Sakala
2. Youremember Banda ,
3. Chitiya Mususu,
4. Mukuma have all left
All of them have left and you seem not to be moved
These players excelled but a lot of hard work on the training ground has paid off and now other serious teams with bigger ambitions have come to harvest from Napsa Stars as always the situation.
Moment of the season
You had too many great moments and I thinking leading the pack of the league for six weeks stands out. Beating Nchanga Rangers in the first game of the season and couples by that 1-0 victory against Zesco United was a great moment. Also crucial victories away like the Forest Rangers victory in Ndola was another great moment.
But the best should be the Barclays Cup final specifically in the 46th Minute when Youremember Banda scored the opener and for once I thought Napsa Stars were gunning for their second title of the Barclays. But Felix Nyaende and Isaac spiloiled what could have been the best of Napsa in 2017.
That was a bench mark Incas hoping you would be fighting to beat in 2018. Am not sure anymore.
Big issue
Can Napsa Stars prove next season that this term’s performances were not a one-off? The top six position was a good finish and this season is a great leveller and will determine whether Napsa Stars are punching over their weight or that, in Lusaka at least, Napsa Stars can make some noise but it would have been more noisier had the big players remained.
My thought is that you should have delayed giving your players pension so that you can still have them. Even Government increased the retirement age otherwise, you will regret the exodus you sanctioned.
Bwezani Mbewe
