HIGHLANDERS chairman Peter Dube has defended coach Bongani Mafu following the team’s poor start to the first half of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League which has seen Bosso sit in eighth position after 13 matches.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Dube indicated that a number of factors, including injuries, had played a part.
Bosso hit the road to Harare on Sunday where they clash with Dynamos before finishing the first half at home against former coach Kelvin Kaindu’s Triangle at Barbourfields Stadium.
They have picked up 19 points, 10 behind city neighbours Chicken Inn who are leading the pack.
Dube yesterday told a poorly attended mid-year extraordinary general meeting that injuries and players away on national duty had contributed to the team’s lacklustre performance. Just over 100 fully paid members attended the meeting.
“Our first game in 2015 against ZPC Kariba seems to have set a tone of average performance. Granted, we lost a number of senior players at the beginning of the season and the recruitment of the new players, coupled with the appointment of a new coach (Mafu) created some uncertainty,” Dube said.
“The best attended game at Barbourfields this year saw a spirited Tsholotsho attempting to embarrass us. Injuries have also played, a major role in affecting the coach’s selection for some games. At one time we had four players on national duty and five on injury, and we were still to fulfil the fixtures because the national games were deemed to be outside Fifa dates.
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“Be that as it may, the reality is that we have not had a good start to the season. As we conclude this two-week break, we lie eighth on the log, an unfamiliar position for a club of our status.”
He added: “The leading pack is 10 points adrift, but football can be funny indeed in that any three wins for us, while the top teams stumble, would see us in contention. In fact, it is my humble opinion that this year’s fixture will favour us as we go to the last stretch.”
On Mafu, the Highlanders boss said: “At the annual general meeting (in January) we unveiled our new technical set-up. As is common in football, the head coach is responsible for the persons who work under him. While we set up benchmarks for the coach to achieve, it would be folly to dogmatically stick to those without considering factors that could have affected performance and hence could be excuses for any outcomes. It may have been a disastrous start for Mafu, but pundits now say the team seems to be taking shape. Of course, there will be divergent views.”
However, Phineas Ndlovu — a member — was of the view that the team’s disastrous performance lay in its recruitment policy of players while another member said head coach Mafu should talk less and produce results.
