NEW Dynamos coach David “Yogi” Mandigora has admitted he faces a huge challenge to fit into the big shoes left by his predecessor Kalisto Pasuwa.
Tawanda Tafirenyika Sports Correspondent
Mandigora said this to reporters soon after he was unveiled as the new team coach in Harare yesterday.
Mandigora, who will be assisted by Tonderai Ndiraya, signed a three-year deal with the club, bouncing back to the team he left in 2009.
He said he had a lot of work to do if he was to emulate Pasuwa who won a record four successive league titles with Dynamos.
But before he can start looking to emulate what Pasuwa achieved last season, he has to beat a 30-point target in the first round next season — it’s a condition that he has been given by his new bosses.
“It’s a difficult task to take over from someone who has done so well. But I hope I will be able to do the same but I can’t win four titles in one year,” Mandigora said as he pleaded for patience from the club’s hard-to-please fans.
He also said pressure was the nature of the job and that coaching Dynamos, one would expect a lot of pressure.
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“In any team there, it’s pressure. It’s the nature of our job. I hope to do well in the Champions league in the future since the executive has said this year we won’t be playing in the Champions League due to financial problems. This is a new chapter. We have a different technical team set up, but its not about Mandigora. I need support from everyone, the supporters and the executive,” Mandigora said.
Pasuwa lifted the championship with Dynamos this season — his fourth successive title since taking over from Lloyd Mutasa.
No other coach has managed to win four straight league titles in the history of the local Premiership. Pasuwa has, however, said he would not be renewing his contract which expires at the end of this month.
Mandigora, who led Dynamos to the semi-finals of the African Champions League, was one of the coaches who had applied for the post.
Ndiraya, also a former assistant to Pasuwa for two years during which he helped Dynamos win the championship in those years, was also unveiled as the assistant coach.
Ndiraya said he was proud to be back in the fold and revealed he had been studying towards a Diploma in Sports Management.
“I am happy to be back. I was part of the success as assistant to Pasuwa for two years and now with new coach David Mandigora, I will try to give him the best support. I have been studying towards a Diploma in Sports Management and hope the knowledge I have gained will help the team,” said Ndiraya, who is also undergoing a Caf A licence training course.
Team manager Richard Chihoro managed to survive the reshuffle which has claimed the scalp of goalkeeper’s coach Munyaradzi Diya.
Club president Keni Mubaiwa said they settled for Mandigora and Ndiraya because they needed coaches whom they would be able to pay after a number of international coaches had expressed interest to coach the team.
Mubaiwa said there were at least five foreign coaches who had expressed interest, but they decided to appoint former players.
“We decided to give the job to former sons of Dynamos. We are trying to give everyone who has played for Dynamos a chance. We also wanted coaches we are able to pay,” he said. Dynamos had run an advert seeking to recruit a coach to replace outgoing Pasuwa.
