BY PAUL VUTETE CAPS United legend Charlie Jones has been appointed the chief executive of the troubled Harare giants. He immediately promised to end the problems rocking the team.
Jones, who made a name turning out for the Green Machine during a great period of success when they earned the tag Cup Kings, said he was ready for the challenge and was optimistic of fixing the problems related to staff welfare which has impacted on the team’s performance.
Caps United lost 1-0 to Chicken Inn at the weekend, their fourth straight defeat of the campaign. It was also their second home defeat.
The run of poor results came against a background of a chaotic period in which at least three senior players were expelled for allegedly leading a strike over unpaid wages.
“For me this reunion just feels like a homecoming. Like I told the players, if you don’t have green blood you won’t be able to make it here,” he told journalists at a press conference yesterday.
“Every team has problems, but there is no short-term or long-term solution, we just have to go in there and make things happen. That’s what I am here for, to make things happen and work.
“I am a footballer’s CEO not a business CEO, therefore I understand the ground, players’ level, players’ surroundings and where they are coming from. All those factors are what we want to manage to make sure that the guys have a piece of mind when they put on a Caps United jersey and run out on the pitch.”
Jones said remuneration problems were an issue at every club.
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“That problem can be sorted out by how we talk to our players, manage them, how they trust us and that’s what we have to start believing in,” he said.
If we owe them money, we owe them money and that is a fact and we don’t run away from the fact that we owe them money. But we can sort out the matter and move forward. It is about building trust once again so we can move on from the situation.”
Jones said the coaches will do their job to improve results.
“We have a technical department. What happens in football is we can’t win all games and what happens as well is if you can change you can bring freshness and new vitality to the table and things can change.
“I have been here for two days now, the team that has been built here is a team that can produce and end up somewhere. It’s all about work there is nothing for free everything we have to work for it. Like I said, trust is everything for this club, the guys need to trust in me that I can deliver and remuneration, welfare, admin and whatever other factors.”
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