ARMED with a Zifa Level Four coaching certificate, former Highlanders midfield genius Johannes Ngodzo was given the nod to take over as head coach at ambitious former Premier Soccer League side Bantu Rovers in March this year.
yesteryear profile with FORTUNE MBELE
Bantu Rovers had parted ways with Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu a few weeks before the 2016 Southern Region Soccer League started.
Little did Ngodzo, who dazzled opponents with his fancy footwork and accurate passing during his playing days, know that at the end of the year, he was to help Tshintsha Guluva to their first ever Division One championship title.
After assuming the hot seat, he lost his first match in charge 1-0 away to ZPC Hwange and hopes of a successful season seemed to have diminished.
“I lost my first game to ZPC Hwange and I began to have doubts because after I was appointed head coach, I was given targets straight away and thinking of the mandate before me, I thought it was going to be difficult going forward. But I got encouragement from Chipo [Tsodzo] and Maphepha [Ernest Sibanda] and we started grinding the results,” Ngodzo said.
Tsodzo, another former Highlanders player, was his assistant, who took over as interim head coach on Tuesday after Ngodzo was sent on forced leave for some alleged misdemeanors following the club’s crowning in the Division One league.
“I don’t want to talk about that for now. Maybe some other time after the dust has settled,” Ngodzo said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Maphepha, former Highlanders manager and chairman is Bantu Rovers’ chief of protocol, who is in charge of all Bantu Rovers’ teams, from the juniors to the senior team.
Best known to his colleagues as “Tshisa” or “Signature” during his playing days at Highlanders, the 36-year-old soft-spoken Ngodzo, whose playing career was abruptly stopped by a nagging injury he sustained while playing for the Warriors against Eritrea in 2002, says he sees a bright future for himself as a coach.
“I coached juniors at Bantu Rovers and always enjoyed my role in junior development, especially working with the young players while working for Grassroots Soccer. I was player/coach and it was Mayor [Methembe Ndlovu] who gave me the courage to take my coaching seriously. I wanted to pursue my Caf C Licence badge this year but unfortunately I had to concentrate on the team. Coaching is something that I Iove to do now and I have to concentrate and upgrade myself,” he said.
Winning the Southern Region Division One championship is his biggest feat so far, but Ngodzo reckons it was not easy.
“It was very difficult but I took every game as it came. For me, 2016 has been a learning curve in my coaching career. I did not expect that I was going to win the league but hard work, perseverance and encouragement from my colleagues paid off,” Ngodzo said.
Bantu Rovers won the league on the last day, when they beat Amagagasi 1-0 in Victoria Falls, wresting the title from favourites Bulawayo Chiefs who were held to 1-1 draw away to Ntabazinduna Prison.
The two sides ended the season tied on 64 points, with Bantu Rovers nicking it on a superior goal difference. Of the 30 league matches, they played Ngodzo won 20, drew four and lost six.
He paid tribute to Highlanders and Bantu Rovers for making him the person that he is now.
Ngodzo hung his boots in 2014 after playing for Bantu Rovers in the Premier Soccer League and took up full-time coaching.
“I would have wanted to play without interruption up to the age of 34 but could not due to injury. And in my career in football both as a player and a coach I would like to thank Highlanders for making me a better player and Bantu Rovers for making me a better person. I am now targeting the Caf C Licence and to upgrade myself more and see how it goes,” he said.
Ngodzo coached his young brother Zephaniah at Bantu Rovers and besides being a Highlanders’ legend and supporter, he said this year he wanted his other young brother Joel to win the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship with Caps United.
