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‘TelOne will survive relegation’

Sport
NEWLY-appointed TelOne coach Rahman Gumbo is hopeful that his team will survive relegation at the end of the season.

BY TERRY MADYAUTA

NEWLY-appointed TelOne coach Rahman Gumbo is hopeful that his team will survive relegation at the end of the season.

Gumbo was given the reins this week to help turn the fortunes of the well-resourced side who are currently on an eleven-match winless streak.

As a result of the bad run, the team has dropped into the relegation zone. Consequently, coach Jairos Tapera was sacrificed for Gumbo, who beat competition from Moses Chunga and Lloyd Mutasa to land the post.

Top on Gumbo’s job description list will be to help the team escape relegation. They are currently sitting 16th on the 18 team log standings. Four teams will be relegated at the end of the season.

Speaking to the media after his unveiling, the former Warriors coach, who also boasts of vast Premier Soccer League experience, immediately declared that he will save TelOne’s topflight status.

“It will not be easy, but with the number of games remaining, I believe we can manoeuvre our way past this hurdle,” Gumbo said.

He will be assisted by Joel Lupahla, the man who has largely been calling shots at the club since promotion into the topflight, while the pair of Benjamin Sanyanga and Brian Zingwe have also been retained in the technical team set-up.

“We are now a team, so we have to work together, but I am hopeful that my contribution will help achieve the set goals. Those who were already here will play an important part in stirring the ship, but the main mission is helping the team work its way out of the relegation zone,” Gumbo said

The crew has 15 matches to try and save the team, starting with a tough trip to ZPC Kariba on Saturday.

Their next opponent is yet to lose a game at their fortress called Nyamhunga Stadium.

Victory in Kariba would see the Wifi Boys move out of the bottom four, whereas a defeat would see them sink even deeper and making it all the harder for the club to survive the guillotine at the end of the season.

“Obviously, our next game will go a long way in shaping our target, which we hope to win the bulk of the remaining matches, “he said.

TelOne president Lloyd Mthethwa believes Gumbo is the right man to take them to Canaan.

“We have faith in our coach and the rest of the team. We are hopeful the new ideas will change the direction of the ship. We have to pick as many points as possible so that we remain in the premier league. With team work we can achieve all our goals,” Mthethwa said.

The club has 17 points and will need at least 23 more in the remaining fixtures to survive. In recent years, teams that reach 40 points have safely survived demotion.