Maruwa pleads for patience

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DYNAMOS coach Herbert Maruwa

DYNAMOS coach Herbert Maruwa has pleaded with the team’s restive supporters to be patient with his new-look squad as they seek to return to winning ways in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League starting with Caps United game on Sunday.

Frustration is growing within the club’s fan base following the team’s poor run of form in recent weeks.

A group of fans expressed their anger after watching their side lose to Bulawayo Chiefs last week, a defeat that extended DeMbare’s winless run to four matches in all competitions.

Fans booed the team off the pitch, and went on to barricade the exit gate baying for Maruwa’s head.

Speaking at his pre-match Press conference yesterday, Maruwa said he understands the supporters’ frustrations, but feels his team’s struggles have been grossly exaggerated.

“I understand the supporters want to win all games, but it’s not possible in football. Remember we have a new team with a lot of youngsters, so the supporters need to be patient. It's like expecting a child born today to walk tomorrow. It’s a process, they need to trust it. But not to say we are going to relax on our side, no, we want to win but at the same time we have a long-term plan which I think we are in the right track,” Maruwa said.

Dynamos slumped to seventh position on the log, but they are just four points behind leaders Caps United.

“Dynamos is a big institution and people will say what they want but as the coach, I remain focused and leave people to say what they think. Sometimes people don’t look at statistics. I’m very calm by the way things are going at the moment.”

Maruwa admitted his players are low on confidence following their defeat to Bulawayo Chiefs, but is fighting hard to lift them up ahead of the big match on Sunday.

“We lost versus Bulawayo Chiefs but we have to quickly focus our attention on Caps United. It's still early (to press panic buttons) because we are still within touching distance with the leaders. Caps United are on 12 points and we are separated from them by just four points. On top of that, we have a game in hand, so we are not far behind.

“The boys are ready for the match, no injury worries; the team is ready to play Caps. It's one of the games where the players are motivated to do well,” Maruwa said.

Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe is hoping that his side can return to winning ways after their draw with Chicken Inn last week.

He admitted that his team faces a tough task against their arch-rivals DeMbare.

“We are ready for Dynamos.”

“We expect a difficult game. I am sure those (Dynamos) players are professional enough to separate between one bad performance and to focus on putting up a good performance. We expect a spirited  and focused Dynamos and this is how we have been preparing for this match. It will probably be one of our biggest matches so far this season,” he said.

“The most important thing as far as we are concerned is the application before, but the application on match day is the preparation so for now we are working mainly on the preparation.  Hopefully, come Sunday we can apply things we would have prepared in training, so bragging rights is one thing, that’s for supporters but for coaches and players it’s not about bragging rights, but it’s about performance and winning matches.”

Matchday 7 fixtures

Tomorrow: Bulawayo Chiefs v Yadah (Luveve), Manica Diamonds v Black Rhinos (Gibbo), Ngezi Platinum Stars v ZPC Kariba (Baobab)

Sunday: Caps United v Dynamos (National Sports Stadium), Triangle v Chicken Inn (Gibbo), Highlanders v Hwange (Barbourfields), Cranborne Bullets v Sheasham (Baobab)

Monday: Herentals College v FC Platinum (National Sports Stadium)

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