Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
DESPITE hogging the spotlight this year for punching below their weight and staying in the shadows of relegation for longer periods, the country’s Big Three — Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United — reminded their rivals at the weekend that they are still in for the long ride.
CAPS United stunned former champions FC Platinum 1-0 away at Mandava while Bosso also collected priceless points on the road with the 2-1 victory over Bikita Minerals at Gibbo.
It was one of those rare weekends when the traditional giants recorded victories at the same time as DeMbare, who have been wallowing in the relegation zone, edged closer to safety when they beat GreenFuel 2-0 at Rufaro in a relegation dogfight.
The old guard has been pushed to the wall in a new establishment that has been dominated by new forces such as Simba Bhora and Scottland who are currently leading the log standings.
In their desperation, the giants have turned to foreign coaches for salvation, with Dynamos roping in Zambian Kelvin Kaindu.
CAPS United are also under the watch of a Zambian coach Ian Bakala who helped ease their relegation worries after taking over from Lloyd Chitembwe in May.
Bosso had to track nomadic Dutchman Pieter de Jongh for a reunion, and the 54-year-old marked his return in style, bringing an end to the club’s five-match winless run following the win against Bikita Minerals.
Nonetheless, the giants are still trapped in the relegation conundrum.
Dynamos have been in worst state after a pathetic run under Lloyd Chigowe and then Saul Chaminuka, which left them stuck in the bottom two.
But the arrival of Kaindu has brought some hope. Kaindu found DeMbare in distress, with only two wins from 23 games and a paltry 16 points.
Such was DeMbare’s predicament that despite winning three games on the bounce, they remained unmoved in 17th place despite taking their points tally to 25.
“Honestly, you can’t enjoy anything to be in the position where Dynamos is today,” said Kaindu.
“But it keeps building your faith, it keeps building the confidence also in the team and it also keeps bringing pressure on the other teams. For us to continue picking up maximum points shows that we are heading somewhere.”
The Glamour Boys are not out of the woods yet although they are now three points closer to the position of safety. Crucially, they have also managed to slash their goal difference from -15 to -9 in the last three games. Temptation Chiwunga and Jairos Kasondo scored on Sunday.
“We were very far from the team that is on top of us but I think by now we should be two points behind and again we’ll be able to move maybe into the fourth or fifth position (from the bottom).
“But we don’t want to get carried away with what is happening. We’ve got a game that is coming on Saturday (against Scottland) and we just want to focus.
“I think the belief slowly is coming in the team and slowly we are beginning to believe that certainly it can be possible that we can survive.
“We don’t want to get to a position where we drop points and we have said we are not going to rely on other teams to win for us from the nine games we have targeted. If we can win six games, definitely we know we are able to survive relegation,” said Kaindu.
Dynamos are on 25 points while CAPS United took their tally to 31 following the win at FC Platinum. Bosso are on 32 points and it may still be too early to sound the death knell for any of the country’s Big Three despite their struggles.
Highlanders coach De Jongh declared “the Champ is back” on his social media platforms, obviously not downplaying the challenge in his hands.
De Jongh had a brief stint with Highlanders in 2019 and won the Chibuku Super Cup. In addition, Bosso won eight games drew six and lost once in the league under De Jongh and is hopeful of taking up from where he left despite the changed circumstances.
“It’s good that I’m back at Highlanders. Of course in 2019 it was great time but 2025 it’s a difficult situation on the log standings,” he said.
“We are already fighting relegation in my first game in charge but the players and the other staff members did a great job. It was a great spirit, good atmosphere and a 2-1 victory is a great feeling for the club and of course for the fans.”
De Jongh believes whole Bosso family needs to push in one direction in the remaining eight games. His predecessor, Try Ncube managed just one win in eight matches as interim coach.
“It’s not about me alone but also the staff members, the players, the fans, the executive committee and everyone. We need Bosso to push in the right direction,” said de Jongh.
His counterpart Bakala of CAPS united has experienced a see-saw outing since taking over from Chitembwe in May. Out of 15 games, Bakala has managed six wins, four draws and five defeats.
But the win at FC Platinum reignited Makepekepe’s belief as they labour to ensure safety.
“If you look at the games we have lost, we were conceding easy goals and we have worked on those mistakes. I am happy we did not concede (against FC Platinum),” said Bakala.
Ishmael Wadi scored the solitary goal against FC Platinum and up next is ZPC Kariba.
“All the games that are coming up are difficult and for us, we just have to focus and mentor the boys very well. This time I think we have to work extra hard because we are fighting to move out of there and then see how we are going to finish,” said Bakala.
Online Reporter