As I analysed two years ago when Song was appointed head coach and as I’ve analysed recently, I’ll say again that everything being equal, Rigobert Song’s appointment as head coach was justified. It only looks otherwise now because the results have not been as expected. Time without number, it has been proven that a player who has had a phenomenal career does not need a lot of experience to get going as a coach.
Xabi Alonso, for instance, only coached Real Sociedad’s academy team before landing the job at Bayer Leverkusen and today he is the most sought after in Europe. He did not need to win titles with the academy team in the third or second division to prove a point. In fact, he gained promotion to the second tier with the team it was relegated again.
What mattered to Leverkusen was Alonso’s philosophy backed by the relative progress he was making. There are a million and one other cases out there. Sometimes they work out; other times they don’t.
Similarly, Rigobert Song was not appointed head coach of Cameroon because he was thought to be the most tactically apt in the world. He was appointed because of the player he was and because his managerial experience showed glimpses of success, just like in the case of Xabi.
Cameroon’s glory days were marked by “hemlé” (fighting spirit) and no one incarnates that better than Song. The plan was to get a coach who can inject that spirit into the souls of the Indomitable Lions. Cameroon is Indomitable, Cameroon is fighting spirit and Rigobert Song by nature is all that.
Now, let’s look at his experience. Negative critics tell you he was eliminated in the group stage in the Under-23 AFCON in 2019 but what they don’t tell you is that Rigobert Song was responsible for qualifying Cameroon for that tournament for the first time in the country’s history. Till date, Cameroon hasn’t featured in the tournament again.
Despite a scandalous preparation, camping just one week before the start of the competition due to lapses from the federation back then, Rigobert Song and his boys beat Mali and drew with Ghana and went out of the group stage with four points because of an inferior goal difference after losing to hosts Egypt.
Looking at that performance delivered with shoestring resources, it was normal to think Song can deliver with the availability of adequate conditions. There you had a man who was showing glimpses of success and not just any man but the man who best incarnates the very precious fighting spirit of the Indomitable Lions. Rigobert Song deserved his chance and he was worth a shot. If things have not worked out as expected, there is no regret because if he was not given the opportunity no one would have known what would obtain.
It is indeed heartbreaking to see supposed gentlemen on television sit and rubbish Rigobert Song who gave everything for these colours, notably captaining Cameroon to back-to-back AFCON titles.
By Ade Divine as Guest Writer
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