Head Coach Perry Mutapa of NAPSA Stars Football Club addressed the media in anticipation of the upcoming 2023/24 season set to commence this weekend (August 19.
The Pensioners are gearing up to welcome ZESCO United in their inaugural match.
Joining Coach Perry Mutapa in today’s virtual press conference were three players: Keegan Zulu, David Odhiambo, and Dickson Chapa.
Q: Expectations and plans for the new season?
Perry Mutapa (Head Coach)
- It will be a tough one, as you can see a lot of teams have beefed up their squads so it will not be easy. But as NAPSA Stars, we have our short- and long-term goals.
- With our short-term goals, we want to qualify for ABSA if we can do better in the first half of the season. Long term if we can do better than last season. That will be good for us.
Keegan Zulu (Defender)
- We are ready for this season, we have prepared adequately, our preseason was okay, and we prepared well as individuals and as a team.
David Odhiambo (defender)
- Teams have recruited good, and it will be tough, but we are also up to the task as NAPSA Stars and hopefully we do better than last season as a team.
Dickson Chapa (Midfielder)
- We had a good preseason, and we want to have a true reflection of the preseason we had. And for a good season to happen, we need to do well in our first games, so we are working on that.
Q: How are you looking at your first 10 fixtures, how many points do you think you can collect?
Coach Perry
- I have talked about the short-term goals which are to qualifying for ABSA, this season we have very big games in the first seven games, but all the teams this season will be tough, and the most important thing is looking back to how we have prepared. We learnt some lessons last season and it does not matter who we will face, and we have a big game for our first fixture, but we are going to do our best, we are an emerging team, and we want to do well, so it will not be easy, but we have the plans for the season. We are targeting to do well especially being the first game, so we gain confidence and do well in the first round.
Keegan
- I will echo what the coach has said, our short-term target is ABSA qualification and for us to play ABSA we have to do well in the first round. So, we have prepared well and adequately, and we are ready for each team that will come our way, and for us to do well, we need to shine in games like these, so we have to work extra hard to achieve what we want.
Chapa
- These first games are the ones to give us an identity as a team. You know to be the best, you need to beat the best so as a team we just have to enjoy these games, do well and they will give us an identity.
Q: In terms of player development, one of the ways is contributing to the national team, with a couple of national assignments coming up, what are you doing to see that you have players contributing to the national team?
Coach Perry
- They are a few teams that contribute to the national team because the pool of players is selected from those playing outside. And usually, coaches look at the teams doing well. But the most important thing is that this has been a project, and even last time we had a few teams in the provisional squad. But I believe this season, we shall see a contribution to the national team.
Q: Last season you finished fifth coming from the lower ranks, now that you’ve settled, what would you like to achieve this season?
Odhiambo
- For me it’s always to do better than how we did last season, we finished in top five, and I believe in progression so we want to do better than last season, and hopefully a position where we can represent the country in continental football, that is always our objective.
Coach Perry
- Just like David said, the biggest objective is to always do better, and we want to do better than last season. And just like in life, to improve is the most important thing, we don’t have to be stagnant, yes it was a respectable position, yes, we were happy, but we still have to do better.
Q: How have the new players settled in?
Coach Perry
- We have not done a lot in that area. And we hope we conclude by the end of the transfer window. We hope we see some new faces because we need to refresh the squad. Of course, we still have the core of the team, but we hope to see new faces by the end of the transfer season, and we might be late yes, but we hope this is
Q: Are you eying top two this season looking at how you missed out last season?
- It was sad we did not finish second last season, especially after occupying that position at some point. However, we still ended up at a respectable position (number 5). We have ambition and we are hoping to do better. We have a plan, and it involves everyone in the team. We must at least refresh the team so that the new players add something. The likes of Austine Mulenga added freshness to the team last season, so hopefully we can do the same this season.
Q: How challenging is it that we now only have two slots up for continental football?
- It is very challenging because we only have two slots as opposed to the usual four slots. It is a concern for us, but we need to support those that are representing us now. It is encouraging to see teams like MUZA who are being sponsored by an individual, preparing well by sending the team to Namibia for a friendly match. Big ups to Keith Mweemba for this commitment to see that the team prepares for this assignment. And this is an area all teams should improve on.
Q: You have repeatedly said this NAPSA Team is a project, but how long before this project starts competing for titles, what would you term as a successful season for you?
- A successful season for us will be when we improve on what we did last season. We came from the lower division before last season, and football does not lie. This is a team that played continental football and got demoted. So, it will take time for us to compete for titles. However, we are making progress, and we are confident that we will be competing for titles in the near future. In the meantime, we will be happy with a successful season that sees us finishing in the top four.
Q: Generally, just talk about the transfers in the local league, how players rotate in the local clubs, is it because we do not have material or is it funds?
- Coach Perry: Transfers are a part of football all over the world. Players move from one club to another for a variety of reasons, such as to get more playing time, to earn a better salary, or to challenge themselves in a new environment.
In Zambia, I think the main reason for transfers is a lack of funds. However, I believe that we can improve the situation because football is a business. Overall, I think that transfers can be a positive thing for Zambian football.