THE Dynamos leadership yesterday threw their weight behind embattled coach Kalisto Pasuwa — for now — in the face of a huge storm in their camp following a spate of unconvincing displays in recent weeks.
BY HENRY MHARA
The Harare football giants were booted out of the Mbada Diamonds Cup by How Mine at the quarter-final stage at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.
With the Mbada Diamonds Cup off the radar, Dynamos will now focus on trying to defend their league title — their only remaining hope of winning some silverware this season.
But they have what looks like a very potholed road in the race for the league title, and if the truth could be told, Dynamos’ hopes of winning the league title at the end of the season are now very slim.
Pasuwa’s men still have four trips outside Harare in their remaining seven league matches, all of which look very awkward.
They travel to Lloyd Mutasa’s FC Platinum tomorrow, and are also yet to travel to Highlanders, Chicken Inn and Triangle.
Their previous trips outside the capital in league matches have so far produced disasters.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Dynamos were held at Shabanie Mine and Black Rhinos while they lost at How Mine and were thumped at Buffaloes and Hwange. The only win they got outside Harare this season was at Mandava Stadium against Tipple B who are second from bottom on the log table.
That means the league champions have managed just five points from a possible 18 outside Harare this term.
A militant section fans made their frustrations known after their team’s lifeless performance against How Mine on Sunday by barricading the main entrance to the stadium.
They were demanding the reinstatement of assistant coach Tonderai Ndiraya who was “fired” by the club two months ago, and the police had to use force to disperse the crowd.
The club was expected to hold a “crisis” meeting last night ahead of their trip to Zvishavane.
However, club secretary general Webster Chikengezha said they would not fire Pasuwa, just yet.
“The results indicate there are problems in camp so we are meeting today (last night) with the technical team. We want to understand what could be the problem,” said Chikengezha yesterday. “The meeting could be today (yesterday) or after the game in Mandava. We have experienced such a dip in form before and we had to meet and discovered that there were some problems in the team and we resolved it hence the team was doing well until in recent weeks.
“But the meeting has nothing to do with firing any member of the technical team. We will not change the coaches for the remaining matches,” added Chikengezha.
Sources yesterday, however, said Pasuwa has been told to win against FC Platinum or lose the job.
Ndiraya yesterday told NewsDay Sport that he would want to rejoin Dynamos in any capacity.
“I’m always available to help the team, at any level. We all want to see the club progress. This is the time to give Pasuwa and his players maximum support. I’m confident he will turn things around and steer the team to the league championship,” said Ndiraya.
