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Don Makanyanga
Sports Reporter
FOR Genesis Mangombe, assuming the hot seat at Dynamos was a huge surprise and still feels surreal.
Largely unheralded before he arrived at the Premier Soccer League giants as an assistant to Herbert Maruwa at the beginning of the year, Mangombe did not dream that he would take charge of Dynamos in the same year, even on an interim basis.
Today, the reality will sink in, as his first Premiership game as Dynamos’ interim coach is against Sheasham at Bata Stadium.
His first assignment since Maruwa’s sacking was a Chibuku Super Cup Round of 16 tie against Simba Bhora, which Dynamos won 1-0 via Emmanuel Paga’s second-half strike.
For someone whose name means the beginning, Mangombe is all but ready for what is the biggest coaching job yet in his career.
“Being appointed Dynamos interim coach came as a surprise. As a coach, you need to be prepared all the time, geared up, ready to go and to be on your toes so that if a task is given to you, you have to prove that you are a very good coach,” said Mangombe.
He has spent the last eight months as Maruwa’s assistant. Before joining Dynamos, he had helped Yadah avoid relegation from the Premiership last season.
“Dynamos is a big team which comes with a lot of expectations and demands, and as coach, it requires your undivided attention on getting the desired results,” he said.
“Having worked as an assistant coach, it gave me some exposure and I came to understand that it is not an easy job to coach Dynamos as there is a lot of pressure, hence you need to be on your toes most of the times.
“Being an assistant coach has helped me to understand some dynamics within the club, which include managing some of the difficult situations, and I believe what I have learnt will help me in my coaching career.”
Mangombe, a firm believer in the passing game, says his ambition is to leave a legacy of entertaining football at Dynamos.
“I have my own philosophy. First and foremost, I need to instil some discipline in the team.
“My philosophy is centred on discipline. If you are not disciplined, then you do not play. “Then the second aspect of philosophy is on the tactical approach to the game, where players should understand the zones and what they should do in the zones.
“We need to keep the ball at all costs and play entertaining football, then pounce when we get the opportunity because I have never heard of a team that scores without having possession of the ball.”
With a place in the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals secured, DeMbare shift their focus back to the championship marathon, where they are nine points behind leaders Highlanders.
“As a coach, it is always good to start off your campaign with a win, as it brings confidence to the team.
“The game on Sunday will be my first league match in charge of Dynamos and I am hoping to get maximum points, though I understand it won’t be an easy task for us considering the fact that they (Sheasham) have a new coach who is also out to prove a point,” added Mangombe.
He expects Bosso to stumble along the way and wants DeMbare to be ready to pounce should that happen.
“The return fixtures are just the beginning and you do not want to lose points in this race, hence we will try our best and make sure that we collect maximum points along the way and remain in touch with the leading pack.
“Nine points is not a very big gap considering that we are just starting the return fixtures. What you need as a team is to win your games and keep up, and who knows? They (Highlanders) can drop points along the way and we can also capitalise when we meet them in the reverse fixture.”
Online Reporter