Ronny van Geneugden eyes Patrick Mabedi, Meke Mwase

Tom Sangala February 3, 2018

489 1 minute read

Malawi national football team Coach, Ronny van Geneugden (RVG), has reportedly proposed former Flames defenders, Patrick Mabedi and Meke Mwase, as part of his Flames’ backroom staff.

The two have been earmarked as Gerald Phiri Senior and Derlerk Msakakuona’s replacements, as their contracts expire next month.

In December, RVG indicated that he would ring the changes to his backroom staff before the end of this month.

Football Association of Malawi (Fam) imposed Phiri and Msakakuona on RVG, and soon reports emerged that there was a split between the coach and his assistants.

The Belgian met Fam sub Technical Committee over the weekend at Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre and presented his report on the 10 months he has been in charge of the Flames.

A source confirmed the meeting and RVG’s proposal of Mabedi and Mwase, who are currently working as South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach and mentor for Kasungu District’s TN Stars, respectively.

Geneugden could neither deny nor confirm that he proposed the two names.

“At the moment, I cannot confirm the names but very soon Fam will make announcement. Are you happy with the names? But there is no smoke without fire,” he said.

RVG’s report is expected to be tabled during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for next week in Mzuzu.

The meeting is also expected to discuss the progress of a football academy which Fam wants to set up in Blantyre. Mwase, who has made headlines after helping Stars earn promotion to the TNM Super League having won Chipiku Premier Division championship, was reluctant to comment on the matter.

Fam vice President, James Mwenda, who is also the Chairperson of the Technical

Committee, confirmed about last week’s meeting, but insisted that the issue of RVG’s assistants was not tabled during the meeting.

“We had a meeting meant to plan for the whole year so the coach was one of the people who was called to present the report and programmes for 2018. We also looked at the data of qualified coaches in the country, reports from the Technical Director [John Kaputa] on the technical programmes, especially on the academy which Fam is spearheading,” Mwenda said.

Since the Belgian took over the Flames last April, the Flames have just scored five goals in 11 games while conceding 12 goals. The Flames are second in Group A of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with three points, at par with Cameroon following their 1-0 victories over Comoros Islands and Morocco, respectively.