GISHON Ntini faces a tough examination in his next three assignments which start with a trip to Harare City at Rufaro this afternoon as he seeks to save Chiredzi FC from the dreaded chop by the end of the campaign.
TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Ntini was thrown into the deep end a week ago after Chiredzi FC — at the foot of the table with just 10 points to show in 16 matches of the campaign to date decided to relieve Moses Chunga of his duties following a breakdown in their working relationship.
Ntini who coached Triangle last season managing to finish in the top eight acknowledges the difficult task at hand — to lift the team from the murky waters of relegation. He, however, says the task is surmountable.
“It’s a difficult task, but not insurmountable. It (Chiredzi) can survive relegation, but the problem I have is that some of the
players I had wanted to add depth to the team are not reporting for training. We have players like Tapiwa Dephistara, Munyaradzi Chiwara and Wellington Mudyariwa who have not reported for training since I took over. We need depth because we have got a number of games coming up,” said Ntini.
The nomadic coach said Harare City poses a major threat despite firing their head coach Bigboy Mawiwi.
“Harare City have quality players and the fact that they will be without their head coach who was fired will not affect them. The assistant coach has been doing well in the absence of the head coach. We really need to roll up our sleeves to get points from them,” said Ntini.
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Ntini started on a winning note after taking over from Chunga outwitting veteran coach Luke Masomere when registering a memorable 2-1 victory against Buffaloes with David Temwanjira and Scholar Hadebe scoring for Chiredzi while Mike Nyamukasa pulled one back for the army side.
However, Masimba Dinyero elevated to head the technical team in an interim capacity will also be looking to steer his team from relegation.
Dinyero was given three matches to prove himself and a good outing in those matches starting with today’s match could see him being installed until the end of the term. Harare City will after today’s match make the trip to Zvishavane for a date with Shabanie and then host Chapungu.
But Dinyero, who did well in the two games he has been in charge in the absence of Mawiwi, says he will take each game as it comes.
“We will take each game as it comes. Our task is to try and pick points in every match to move away from the relegation zone. It will not be easy against Chiredzi FC because they are also fighting relegation,” said Dinyero.
Fixtures: Today Harare City vs Chiredzi FC (Rufaro Stadium) 1500hrs SS Tomorrow: ZPC Kariba vs Hwange (Gwanzura Stadium)1500hrs SS, FC Platinum vs Chapungu FC (Mandava Stadium) Sunday: Caps United vs Chicken Inn (NSS) 1500hrs SS, Buffaloes vs Shabanie Mine (Sakubva Stadium), Highlanders vs How Mine (B/F), Black Rhinos vs Dynamos (Rimuka Stadium) ,Triangle United vs Bantu Rovers (Gibbo Stadium).
