BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA CAPS United’s problems have continued to mount this week ahead of their tough home Castle Lager Premiership tie against title contenders Chicken Inn with reports that defender Jimmy Dzingai has quit the club following a dressing room bust up with one of the coaches at Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane last week.
The Harare football giants lost 3-0 to FC Platinum, their third consecutive defeat, with Walter Musona opening the lead from a freekick 15 minutes into the match. Hagizio Magaya stretched the lead two minutes later before Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya took the match beyond Cap United’s reach with a headed goal three minutes before halftime.
As tensions built up, NewsDay Sport has gathered that there was a harsh exchange of words between the player and the coach over the leakage in defence. And Dzingai, who partnered Marshal Machazane at the heart of the defence is said to have been angered by being fingered for the lacklustre show and exited the players’ WhatsApp group without explanation.
Reports suggest he had officially announced that he was no longer interested in continuing to play for the club and was already looking elsewhere.
But coach Lloyd Chitembwe chose to play down the issue after the team’s training session yesterday.
“The issue is not about controversies. We want to talk about the positive things we have seen at training. He is not here because we excused him,” he said.
The incident follows a chaotic week which saw the club hierarchy sacking three players — goalkeeper Simba Chinani, defender Dennis Dauda and striker Clive Augusto — for their alleged involvement in a player strike which almost led to a boycott of their match against Cranborne Bullets.
The situation appeared to be returning to normal after three players, skipper Ronald Chitiyo, striker Rodwell Chinyengetere and Devon Chafa had been pardoned.
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However, it has emerged Chitiyo has decided to sever ties with the club and has been linked with a move to Simba Bhora, a Division One club.
Despite management calling him to a meeting where he was told he still had a role to play at the club, Chitiyo has not been reporting for training amid reports that he has set his sights on the Northern Region Division One outfit.
The club hierarchy is also said to be making moves to persuade Dauda to return in the midst of a defensive crisis, especially after Dzingai walked out.
Dauda told NewsDay Sport this week that he had no hard feelings over the sacking and was waiting to consider offers from elsewhere.
With defender Valentine Musarurwa unavailable for the clash against Chicken Inn after accumulating three yellow cards, Chitembwe will be thin in defence.
The Caps United mentor, though believes the preparations have been much better this week in comparison to the past two weeks. He said the disappointing results in the past games were expected in the context of the turbulence the team went through.
“I would like to believe our preparations have been good unlike in the past two weeks. What we experienced in the last couple of weeks was expected given the preparations we had. I thought honestly speaking, you can’t stand a chance if the house is a bit in trouble and experiencing the turbulence we had. I think it had to stop at some point and am happy with what I have seen at training. We just have to make sure we take ourselves out of the situation and am happy it is doable because the capacity is there. I have seen a lot of positives if it comes out as it appears at training,” he said.
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