Antipas bounces back

. Raymond Jaravaza .
THE Ace is back!

Joey Antipas is back home at Chicken Inn and will lead the Gamecocks in the 2018 Premier Soccer League campaign.

And in tow back to Bulawayo from South Africa with Antipas is his trusted lieutenant Prince Matore aï¿½ï¿½ the man he has worked with side by side for years as his assistant.

Antipas and Matore are back in the country from Durban where they headed AmaZulu in the South African second tier league aï¿½ï¿½ the National First Division aï¿½ï¿½ but lost their jobs after failing to gain promotion into the lucrative Absa Premiership.

AmaZulu, however, acquired the franchise of Thanda Royal Zulu to play in the Absa Premiership.

A crunch meeting of the Chicken Inn executive was later in the week (Thursday) expected to meet current coach Rahman Gumbo and officially inform him that his contract that expired on 31 December 2017 would not be renewed.

The official termination of Gumboaï¿½ï¿½s contract with Chicken Inn will pave way for Antipas to make a return to the club that he led to the 2015 league title.

aï¿½?Antipas is on holiday in South Africa and is expected in the country on Friday to formalise his return to Chicken Inn. Itaï¿½ï¿½s well known that he always works with Matore wherever he goes and besides the two made a great team at Chicken Inn before moving to South Africa,aï¿½? said a well informed source.

Antipas commands respect among the Chicken Inn players, a majority of whom he worked with when the team brought the coveted PSL title back to Bulawayo when it was last won by Highlanders in 2006.

Without giving anything away, Chicken Inn secretary Tavengwa Hara only confirmed the meeting with Gumbo stating that discussing the coachaï¿½ï¿½s future before sitting down with him would be unprofessional.

aï¿½?We can only comment on whether Gumbo stays or will be replaced after his meeting with the club executive sometime before the weekend,aï¿½? said Hara.