Minziro and Julio Kihwelo...Will they ever shake off the Number two Tag?

  Minziro (Left) Too long in the shadow?                           Kihwelo (Left) Tired of learning?

  

                       

  ‘If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing.’
Billy Shankly, Liverpool Legend

First is first, second is nothing. Perhaps that is very harsh but in football the number two tag sucks and is very hard to shake off. When the legendary scot, Sir Alex Fergusson retired, his longtime assistant, Mike Phelan was not even talked for a second of taking over his reign. In football, the longer you stay as an assistant, the harder it is to get promoted to the top job.

In Tanzania, there are two very loyal club lieutenants at Msimbazi and Jangwani who have stayed far too long as assistants to ever make the cut at the top. Fred Felix Minziro has served Yanga as a player and coach for a long time without ever being fully trusted to take charge of the first team for a full season.  Having served as a team manager and assistant coach for many years, Minziro is not considered a legitimate number one; at best he is viewed as an able and loyal assistant at Jangwani.

Like all loyal, able and reliable servants, Minziro has stuck with Yanga through thick and thin, he has shed tears, sweated blood and salt for the club colours but has always been overlooked when it comes to the number one job. Whenever there is a managerial change at Jangwani, he often serves as a caretaker coach, merely warming up the seat for someone better qualified. Neither being questioned of his loyalty nor being deemed suitable for the club top job. That’s his bitter-sweet cup to drink. Minziro case is not helped by the fact that he was in charge when Yanga were humiliated 5-0 by their arch-rivals Simba. That effectively sealed his fate for the top job, completely silenced his backers in spite of the fact that the club was in total chaos at that particular moment. 

In Msimbazi, Jamhuri Kihwelo is a long time Simba assistant. He has served the club under different managements but always as an assistant or caretaker coach. It is his fate. He whines, goes away frustrated but like a blind lover who cannot stay away for too long always comes back and serves the club. The Simba blood flowing in him is too much for him to completely turn away from the club.

 No matter what he says when leaving Simba, one thing always remains constant; Julio and Simba are lifetime partners. Time after time, Julio and Simba relationship gets toxic but like the prodigal son, he always returns to the streets that he has walked all his life. Last year he was overlooked when Frenchman, Patrick Liewig was hired, again this year Kibadeni was appointed to the number one post as the faithful Julio stuck with the assistant position. 

For Minziro and Julio, the more things change at Yanga and Simba, the more they remain the same. They are destined to be number two. Good assistants but not good enough to be entrusted to take full charge at the top. As Kenny Rogers sings in ‘A soldier’s King’ some are born to serve, some are born to be great…some are born to be forgotten...some are born to be number two?