Highlanders face relegation

MatchDay

Chicken Inn inflicted more confusion within Bulawayo giants, Bosso camp with a power sapping 1-0 win on Sunday, making it a fifth consecutive loss for Highlanders, third straight loss since the departure of Kelvin Kaindu thereby exposing the side to possible relegation come end of season.

This loss meant that Highlanders are now on seventh position with 39 points and now trail log leaders Dynamos FC by 11 points.

Bosso are now among the eight clubs fighting relegation in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer league. This means that they could be ‘using trees as their dressing room’ in the ZIFA Southern Region Division 1 football next season if they do not win their remaining four matches.

In the second half of the season Bosso has managed two wins, three draws and five losses, their worst record in the past two seasons where they have finished second to Dynamos FC.

Should the former Champions lose all of their remaining four matches as they surely will considering their poor perfomances and Triangle (who have roped in the services of former Highlanders coach Kaindu) together with Black Rhinos, How Mine, Buffaloes and Shabanie win their remaining matches, Bosso will be in the unfashionable Division One next season.

Bosso travel to the Colliery for a date with unpredictable Hwange before they host already relegated Chiredzi FC whom they could join if Mark Mathe and recently appointed Director of Coaching Cosmas ‘Tsano’ Zulu do not up their game.

They will then visit rejuvenated Shabanie Mine and conclude their disastrous season against stubborn army side, Chapungu who forced a one all draw at Rufaro last week against champions DeMbare and have been outstanding under John Nyikadzino in their return to the topflight.

Highlanders FC who were the log leaders for the better part of the first half of the season now need to win their remaining four matches to avoid fighting relegation on the last day of the season.

With teams like Chicken Inn, Harare City, FC Platinum and Hwange FC now on top of the former champions, Bosso have themselves to blame after failing to capitalise on their better support base and remuneration packages.

At the beginning of the season Bosso bought the league’s finest players but failed to capitalise on Dynamos’ poor early run, only faltering where it matters most.

After a poor run with the club, the former Tshilamoya coach Kelvin Kaindu, was sacked, despite the fact that he had only lost a single match at home against Dynamos.

However, since Kaindu’s exit, caretaker coach Mark Mathe has failed to win in his tyhree outings as head coach, in the process failing to seal a slot in the Chibuku Super Cup final after Bosso were dumped 4-0 in the semis by a rejuvenated Harare City under caretaker coach Masimba Dinyero.

The loss also meant that Bosso could finish the season empty handed given that if they do not get a top four finish, they will be out of the Mbada Diamonds Cup.

Since the firing of Zambian coach Kelvin Kaindu, they have since roped in Cosmas ‘Tsano’ Zulu as the Director for coaching and things are getting worse by each day at the former champions.

Highlanders FC find themselves in a position similar to that Dynamos FC found themselves in 2005 when they had to win their last league match against Masvingo to survive the chop.

Charles Sibanda must ship up or ship out.....

MatchDay

As the Highlanders FC house is on fire, Charles Sibanda, an otherwise average player is making himself a centre of attraction for the wrong reasons.

Sibanda, who signed for the former champions at the beginning of the season, forgets that he came to Bosso with a larger section of fans against his move, thanks to the former coach Kelvin Kaindu’s benevolence who gave him the chance to shine, an opportunity that he has otherwise wasted.

The first games he played for Tshilamoya, Sibanda failed to impress by any standards and had to wait for stars such as Milton ‘Milito’ Ncube and Peter ‘Rio’ Moyo to leave for greener pastures before he could make the slight impact which has thus made him go ‘mad’.

Sibanda has since the beginning of the season scored a paltry 12 goals, thanks to our poor strikers in the local PSL that he is still the top goal scorer albeit with 4 games before the 2014 season curtain closes down.

However, with the Highlanders FC house currently mounted with serious challenges, Sibanda diverts our attention.

Instead of us focussing on dealing with the turbulences at the country’s oldest team, he has stolen the limelight, with his first recorded scandal being the incident, when he had to be warned by the club authorities against smoking mbanje and drinking beer before matches together with Joel Ngodzo and Njabulo Ncube.

Sibanda did not take that warning from the club CEO, Ndumiso Gumede seriously and went on to luckily score from that dubious penalty against How Mine in the Chibuku Cup Quarter final match, making a celebration in which he posed gestures to the Bosso fans indicating they were making too much noise about his exploits off the field.

Charles forgets that the biggest stakeholders at Tshilamoya are the same fans and instead of giving respect, he displays ignorance of the role that the fans have played in the black and white team’s success.

As an alternative to respect, he chooses to disregard the fans making fun of them to get gratuitous media and public attention.

During Sunday’s match against Chicken FC at Hartsfield, in which Bosso continued with their routine losses, Sibanda made the most unforgivable sin when he disobeyed the coach, Mark Mathe in public as he went to the terraces after being substituted.

Despite the coach warning Sibanda not to do so, the not so intelligent Sibanda rudely went to the terraces after having failed to turn the tables as Bosso recorded a 1-0 loss.

This then proved true the allegations that the current problems at Bosso are because of players who are sabotaging the care-taker coach, with Sibanda exposing himself as the chief culprit.

My advice to Sibanda is that he must know ‘ukuthi’ Bosso is not a Mickey Mouse team or a burial society that you just play games with like he is doing.

He must be reminded that instead of pretending like a weevil destroying Bosso from within, it is better to move on.

Bosso is a culture to some of us and even a religion to some. Many have sacrificed their dear lives and all they had for this great club, yet he chooses to behave like a mercenary from Harare bent on totally destroying Amahlolanyama.

Yes he may not be at the traditional giant’s camp next season but he should know that Bosso will always remain as an institution. Ayisoze ibulawe.

Behaving like a rude cattle herder from Botswana will not solve matters for Charles but he must try and embrace professionalism amidst all the troubles we are facing.

He must know that just as he replaced the otherwise excellent and brilliant players like Milton Ncube it won’t take an hour before he is replaced by far much better players than him, the day he heads to Harare (if his alleged move to Bosso’s old nemesis DeMbare is true).

Bosso is a big institution and many talented players like Zenzo Moyo, Dazzy Kapenya, Honour Gombami, Richard Choruma, Tapiwa Kapini among others have not even at once displayed such animal like behaviour despite the immense contribution they made for us.

Sibanda did not even win even the little known CJ MSIPA Trophy and should know that with this kind of behaviour, no one cares about him!

He must know that at Bosso you are remembered for winning trophies and of cause beating DeMbare, not for causing discord and mayhem within the camp.

In fact, it is him who has to thank Kaindu for giving him the privilege to wear the famous black and white jersey!

When all has been said, the young man must either reform or move on.

Hamba kahle Charles.  Bosso shall rise!

Bosso Legends question poor patch

MatchDay

As Bulawayo giants Highlanders’ FC continue  being the Castle Lager Premiership’s laughing stock, Bosso legends expressed their disappointment on social media calling for the team’s leadership to make serious amends before things turn for the worse at the country’s oldest football club.

Highlanders are currently on fourth position with 39 points and trail log leaders, Dynamos by a massive 10 points.

They have also failed to win any Cup final this year, with their most recent being a humiliating 4-0 defeat and ultimate ouster from the Chibuku Cup by Harare City.

As the drama unfolds at the troubled giants, legendary Bosso goalminder Tapuwa Kapini and Dazzy Kapenya took to their Facebook pages to express their frustration at the current poor run the team is experiencing.

“Cry my beloved Liverpool, Bosso. you know why Bosso was successful during the time of Mr Tshuma, Mr Kennny Ndebele, Mr Dube and Mr Gama; those guys were passionate about football they used to camp with the team and cook for the team. Manager Mapepa was the best. Everyone had the team at heart,” said Kapini who was part of the Methembe Ndlovu coached Highlanders’ outfit which won the league in 2006.

Dazzy Kapenya on the other hand seems more worried by the team’s failure to break the eight year jinx over old foes, Dynamos.

“This has become more than just losing. Our boys need to be motivated by other means to win against DeMbare. During our days you would not be able to get into a shower after a loss, worse still after such a losing streak,” Kapenya who was soccer star of the year in 2002 said.

Bosso last beat DeMbare in a competitive match in 2006 under Mkhuphali Masuku, 1-0 at its Rufaro fortress and 2-0 at Babourfields stadium.

Current top goal scorer at 12 goals, Charles Sibanda has also hit a dry patch only managing a single goal in the second half of the season and with no other dependable forward Bosso has had to suffer the shortage of goals which ultimately led to the fallout between Kaindu and the Bosso administration.

Bosso have conceded 10 goals in their last three games which include their 3-0 loss to ZPC Kariba at Hartsfield while still under the guidance of fired Zambian expatriate Kelvin Kaindu, a 4-0 mauling at the hands of resurgent side Caps United at the National Sports Stadium and the recent 3-0 loss at Rufaro against Harare City.

This is arguably Bosso’s worst run this season only registering two wins in the second half of the season and with the Bulawayo derby against Joey Antipas’ Chicken Inn FC on Sunday at Hartsfield in Week 26 of the domestic premiership expected to be full of fireworks, caretaker coach Mark Mathe must be at his best if he is to successfully resuscitate Bosso.

After the team’s heaviest  defeat to CAPS United, at Rufaro stadium Mathe was still confident of a top four finish which will ensure that they will be able to defend their MBADA Diamonds Cup title which is now played by the top four clubs at the end of the season.

“We have been disjointed for the past few games but I am sure we are still in the race,” he said Mathe after the four goal humiliation which however left everyone convinced that Bosso was now a spent force.

Mathe faces stiff competition from resurgent Harare city and city rivals chicken inn for the coveted fourth place finish.

With Kaindu having been sacrificed in a witch hunt which has failed to bear any worthy fruits, the appointment of Mathe as caretaker coach and former Hwange coach Cosmas Zulu as Director of Coaching has obviously not been the right tonic for the beleaguered side.

Can Pasuwa set a new record?

MatchDay

With five games left before the end of the 2014 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, champions Dynamos coach Kallisto Pasuwa could set a new record by clinching the championship for the fourth time in a row to replicate the class of 1980 to 83.

With long time rivals Highlanders FC practically out of the race, Kallistus Pasuwa’s Dynamos face a challenge for their championships hopes from new boys ZPC Kariba and giants CAPS United.

Last year the soft spoken Dynamos gaffer, ‘Ras’ Pasuwa attained a first in local soccer by leading DeMbare to a third consecutive title.

Though a number of Dynamos fans never had confidence in Pasuwa, he has proven to be the magician behind the side’s success story.

However, a new momentous record beacons for Pasuwa with the remaining five matches before the country’s elite league comes to an end.

The character that the Pasuwa coached Dynamos FC has shown over the past three years, winning the league in 2011, 2012 and 2013 coupled with its depth it seems no team is likely to stop the menacing Mbare outfit.

Dynamos take on Gweru based Chapungu FC, a club which beat them 1 nil at home in the first half of the season.

The fact that no team has managed to snatch 6 points from Dynamos for the past 3 seasons gives Pasuwa’s man an edge over the airforce side, something which should be a motivation for Chapungu who despite their entertaining brand of football are fighting relegation.

Dynamos have a history of not faltering at the tail end of every season and there is no evidence that this year might be different. The Mbare based outfit has not lost its final five matches for the past three seasons and that alone is armour enough for the three time championships winning coach.

Another burden that Chapungu will easily not brush aside as they enter the lion’s den, at Rufaro stadium, is the fact that Dynamos have not lost a single match at Rufaro stadium since they shifted to their fortress in the second half of this season.

If they manage to beat Chapungu, Dynamos will be left with a tricky encounter against How Mine, ZPC Kariba, relegation bound Chiredzi and Bantu rovers FC, matches which Pasuwa definitely knows are critical if he is to rewrite football history books.

ABSA premiership returnee, Roderick Mutuma might just be partnering Clive Kawinga who had been nursing a nagging thigh injury for the greater part of the season while Pasuwa still has his fingers crossed for Player of the season contender Stephen Alimenda’s speedy return to the first team after a few weeks out due to a slight muscle injury. Ronald ‘Rooney’ Chitiyo will as usual be expected to be at his classic best.

Reigning soccer star of the year, Tawanda Muparati, Walter Mukanga and Thomas Magorimbo have been delivering for the team in his absence however.

But again as the old adage goes, ‘anything can happen in football’, Pasuwa goes into Sunday’s match with the hope of winning the game such that he remains in course to set a new extraordinary record for the country’s league.