All eyes on Micho as hectic June nears

They say “good coaches win back-to-back games”, now with the waters a little calmer for next month’s 2014 World Cup and 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against this likes of Algeria, Nigeria and Benin, Multin ‘Micho’ Sredojovic should be able to show us what his squad is really capable of. It is time for the wasps to get down to serious business of qualifying for the 2013 African Cup of Nations finals in South Africa.Micho has done his job by first fixing the mess Sellas Tetteh left behind. Now that he has settled, it’s truly time to see if he can take Rwanda’s football back to good old days when Rwandans supported their national team with pride and a real sense of hope and expectation. At this stage, I don’t think it’s fair to take the Serbian coach’s work and conclude he has hit his ceiling, far from it; actually it could just the beginning of better things to come. You really don’t have to be reminded how alarming ex- coach Tetteh rammed the stand to a steady ship on the wrong course. Out of fourteen games in charge, he won three, drew three and lost the rest.Micho has been excellent at club level, but would you really put Micho in the same bracket as Tetteh? Yes and no, and I wouldn’t perhaps. Surely they are both good coaches and it takes something special to become a good coach on the international level, something extra-special to become great, which is why to, Micho and Tetteh are good coaches, who go about their businesses in different ways. Perhaps this time though, a qualification from group stages would settle the debate. The Serbian certainly deserves credit for his overall input since his arrival last October. Some great managers like Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger have stayed on for lengthy periods without trophies, but there are valid reasons for this.Which brings me to Tetteh’s horrible black mark: A disappointing start in the last Group H of 2012 Nations cup campaign only saw the wasps scoop 3 points from Burundi, after losing to Ivory Coast and Benin, then lost 3-1 in return to Burundi, before a surprise 1-0 win in Benin, which moved Rwanda from bottom to second in the end.Under the Ghanaian Rwanda qualified for 2011 CHAN finals though, but there were a lot of difficulties in build-up to the tournament which affected the national team performance in Sudan.But despite a horrible outing Tetteh asserted, “I know the future is bright and we will work on our weaknesses to become better”. He placed the chicken before the egg because things only got worse.Micho transformation From changing of the playing style, to overhauling the system involving the young layers, the Serbian has put a marker in his first nine months in charge.The Amavubi squad under Tettah has somehow descended into an ill-disciplined rabble and it took the appointment of the uncompromising Micho to knock the delinquents into shape, a headmaster to unruly kids. Out went ill-discipline, in came confidence and aggressiveness. Tetteh’s time was characterised by his failure to be sturdy and tactically aware of the constantly changing times. A good coach should make his players see what they can be rather than what they are. The most important aspect of the coaching job is getting your team to work together with and without the ball, attacking and defending, and then the underlying theme of teamwork will be your ability to convey a renewed sense of optimism.Trophy wise, both have their valid claims—at the national team level, Tetteh’s record speaks for itself, while Micho can only dream and vice versa at club level where the later has done exceptionally well wherever he has been.But time has come for Micho to prove that not only can he be an excellent coach at club level but he can also be as good at the international stage.Now that all eyes are wide open on Micho – I hope his players are not going to be an absolute disappointment in the busy month of June.His competence when it comes to strategy and tactics will be hugely tested by first Algeria in the first 2014 Fifa World Cup group H qualifier then Nigeria in the 2013 Nations Cup qualifier (return leg) before taking on Mali in the World Cup qualifying campaign.Le’s hope it won’t be a horror show waiting to happen. Yes, the performance may be uninteresting, but getting the results is crucial after all, we talking of a results-oriented business.