Chicken Inn coach Mpofu resigns

Ricky Zililo Sports Reporter
CHICKEN INN coach Mandla Mpofu resigned on Sunday and national soccer team assistant mentor Mkhuphali Masuku has taken over the coaching reigns at the Bulawayo team.Mpofu left Chicken Inn on sixth position on the log with 36 points trailing log leaders Highlanders by 11 points with five rounds of matches left before the season ends.

The final straw for Mpofu came after his team lost 1-2 to relegation threatened Hwange at Barbourfields Stadium on Saturday.
Before their weekend encounter, Mpofu had admitted that he was feeling the heat following his team’s string of poor results which was threatening their top four finish target.

Since the beginning of the second half of the season, the Gamecocks who started the season as one of the championship favourites managed a single victory out of their last 10 games in Week 21 when they beat Black Rhinos 2-1 at home. They played four draws and lost five outings.

The ambitious Bulawayo club also lost in the Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-finals to Caps United. Chicken Inn chairman Lifa Ncube confirmed that the national Under-20 assistant coach had tendered his resignation.

“Mandla Mpofu amicably severed ties with Chicken Inn FC. I cannot discuss the contents of his letter but at the moment his assistant Mkhuphali Masuku will be in charge. We are going to meet later as the executive to map the way forward,” said Ncube.

Masuku is likely to be in charge of all the remaining five matches starting with the coming weekend’s away trip to Monomotapa, followed by a home game against FC Platinum, Tripple B (away), hosting defending champions Dynamos on Week 29 and wrap up their season with an away fixture to Triangle.

Masuku had been roped in to assist Mpofu in June. Mpofu leaves the Gamecocks after leading them to their first silverware in the Premiership, the NetOne Charity Shield which had a $60 000 winners prize money.

He will take pride in that during his era the club made some money after selling their leading goal scorer Tendai Ndoro to Mpumalanga Black Aces for $80 000.

Mpofu who had taken over from the late Adam Ndlovu at the beginning of the year could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone was not reachable.

Former Motor Action coach Joey Antipas has emerged as the odds-on favourite to land the job. Reports last night seemed to suggest that he had already penned a contract with the club with Chicken Inn now in a dilemma on what to do with other members of the technical team.

Results at a glance

Saturday: Chicken Inn 1, Hwange 2; Black Mambas 4, Caps United 1
Yesterday: Shabanie Mine 1, Monomotapa 1; How Mine 0, Harare City 1; Buffaloes 1, Motor Action 1; Black Rhinos 0, Highlanders 3; Triangle United 2, FC Platinum 1; Dynamos 4, Tripple B 0
Log Standing
P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Highlanders         25    14    5    6    40    20    20    47
Dynamos             25    12    9    4    35    17    18    45
Harare City          25    12    9    4    35    22    13    45
FC Platinum         25    12    6    7    33    23    10    42
Caps United         25    11    6    8    34    29    5    39
Chicken Inn         25    10    6    9    31    29    2    36
Triangle               25    9    8    8    34    30    4    35
Buffaloes             25    10    5    10    36    36    0    35
How Mine            25    10    5    10    23    28    -5    35
Shabanie             25    9    6    10    27    31    -4    33
Hwange               25    8    8    10    30    28    2    32
B/Mambas           25    9    5    11    28    29    -1    32
Black Rhinos        25    6    9    10    26    33    -7    27
Monoz                  25    6    7    12    23    40    -17    25
Tripple B               25    4    7    13    20    38    -21    19
M/Action               25    3    9    13    16    31    -15    18