Tucak should style up or else…

Blanko Tucak is in danger of spoiling the party for all the good things that he has managed to do in a short time since taking over Rwanda national football side, the Amavubi Stars in April if he has doesn’t change his style of dealing with the media. Having become only the first coach to win three consecutive competitive Fifa matches with Rwanda, a record worthy noting and having managed to get the fans to his side after early skeptics, the Croat seem to be loosing it with the media. That is a big blunder he’s making which I am sure if he doesn’t change, he could live to regret it for the rest of his (coaching) career, make no fuss about that—this is no threat, just an observation. I stand to be corrected on this but, nowhere in today’s world of football do you find a national team coach refuse (on purpose) to give interviews to journalists unless there is something he’s avoiding or he’s living in the old days. Nonetheless, holding a position which Tucak and others like him find themselves, there is no way, for God’s sake; you’re going to run away form dealing with the media. To say, like Tucak wants us to believe, that he can only give interviews or talk to journalists during press briefings, which also are not a guarantee, it beats the meaning of common sense given the current situation. Whatever Tucak is doing, he must remember that he’s actually doing it for Rwandans and the outside world. Amavubi Stars is not a private entity that’s why the people, who take trouble to follow it need to be updated more often than not, thus making the media a handy partner. Poor timing Unfortunately, the poor man chose the wrong time to try to dodge the media. The timing of Tucak’s actions is very poor, given the current situation where the Wasps are making news not only in Rwanda but even far beyond for the way they’ve defied odds to put together a string of three wins in row. Prior to this weekend’s fixtures, only Rwanda and Nigeria where the two teams with a 100 percent record after three fixtures in the ongoing 2010 World/African Cup second qualifying phase, a fact that makes the current situation a special one for Rwandan football. Assume you’re Tucak, what reason would you give for not wanting the public, I mean Rwandans, who have a divine right to information about the Amavubi Stars, to know the state of the team at any given time? There is no better time for a coach, in this case Tucak, to enjoy an excellent (working) relationship with the media than now when things are not only blossoming but also the general picture of the current state of the team, gives optimism even to the bitterest critics. Dire consequencesIf anything, Tucak should be advised, you know he has his bosses (Sports ministry and Ferwafa) to style and learnt to live in the modern world or else he faces dire consequences for his unfortunate actions. The media, being the fourth arm of the state; it goes without saying that it can make and or break you depending on the chemistry between the parties in the equation. Here am not saying Tucak or anyone else must compromise his responsibilities or put his job on the line for the sake of impressing the ‘nosy’ chaps but he aught to realize how important is for Rwandans to be kept abreast with the state of the team, especially at this particular moment. You know what I am talking about. Is Ronaldo worth all this hype?These days you can’t flip any back page of these online newspapers, mostly in Britain without the story of Cristiano Ronaldo and his transfer or not from Manchester United to Real Madrid. And I wonder why all this ruckus about one football player, who in my opinion is nowhere near being regarded as great, at least at the moment. However, if the 23-year Portuguese star carries his scintillating form of the last two seasons into the next two (regardless of where he plays, Manchester or Madrid), he’ll without a doubt be up there with the best to ever grace a football field. The regime at Old Trafford has already said they would rather let the winger rot in the stands than sell him to Real Madrid! Why? I thought it was in Europe where free movement of labor is more endurable. One analyst in The Sun went ahead with his analysis, “If United can’t stop Ronaldo screwing up a contract and disappearing to another club simply because he fancies the move, then nobody can.” “And if that’s where we’re at, then football descends into anarchy, contracts are meaningless bits of paper and the tail is well and truly wagging the dog. There are reports of Real dishing out a record £70million for the player, who himself wants to move on and once Alex Ferguson’s bruise starts to fade and blood flows back to the brain, there will be many commercial forces looking at the financial reality of rejecting a bid that high. There is no single club in the world that has the power to turn down that sort of money for a player who has yet to prove his salt at the biggest moments, the way the likes of Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Platini, Ronaldo (the phenomenon from Brazil) and even the waning Ronaldinho did. Where was the best footballer in the world at the moment when his country needed him the most on Thursday in their 3-2 loss to Germany in the quarterfinal of the Euro 2008? The answer is, he was on the field, he even wore the captain’s band when Nuno Gomes was subbed midway the second half unfortunately he couldn’t inspire a Portugal side that many had tipped to win the tournament. Big players posses big hearts, big enough to perform big time on big occasions, sadly, with due respect to his talent, Cristiano Ronaldo is not yet in that class. Over to you Ends