daniel chigunwe
Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
LLOYD Chitembwe says he had to retrace his footsteps back home to CAPS United as he felt he needed to step out of the comfort zone and compete for honours in a pressure environment.
The 50-year-old, who won three league titles as a player, before leading Makepekepe to their last championship as coach in 2016, believes he still has unfinished business with the Green Machine.
Chitembwe began his latest stint with Makepekepe with a goalless draw against Harare City.
“I am a coach who wants to win things,” he declared. “This is the reason I came back to CAPS United.
“I was very comfortable at Harare City, they are one club that I tell you will always give you the support that you need, as a coach, and I have respect for that institution.
“Maybe, one thing that I felt I really needed more, apart from my welfare of course, was winning things.
“This is the reason I am here.
“I enjoy working under pressure and I was missing it for the last two years. I could feel a very important part of me was missing.
“So, it’s really interesting for me to be back and I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Chitembwe left CAPS United midway through a promising season in 2019.
Makepekepe went on to within touching distance of a fifth post-independence title, only for the club to lose the plot, in the last two games, under Chitembwe’s former assistant Darlington Dodo.
Makepekepe fared badly in the Chibuku Super Cup, winning only twice in 10 games, and leading to the sacking of Dodo.
CAPS have managed two goalless draws in the league campaign.
“I thought in the second half I saw an improved team, but there is much work to be done,’’ said Chitembwe.
“I am sure we still have a lot of things to do, in terms of seeing improvement in this team, and we would want to improve as quickly as possible, so that we are up there with the rest.
“But, I am happy that the response from the boys has been very positive and also that things are really looking good, especially in training.
“I have seen that these boys really want to learn a lot more and I am quite positive that they will give us what we expect from them.
“There are certain things that I demand and I am sure it will take a bit of time to get them to understand the things better but this is a requirement.
“They are professional football players, they earn a living out of football, so we expect them to adapt to these things as quickly as possible.’’
There has been concern about the quality of some of the players at the Green Machine, who are now under the captaincy of Phenias Bamusi.
Chitembwe was blunt that he wanted winners and threatened to offload deadwood.
“At CAPS United, if I am to give a profile of what this club expects in terms of players; it wants winners.
“Only winners can make it here and this is one thing that I will probably demand from them.
“Winners will stay and those that are not winners, obviously, have no chance. So, this is it and my history with this club tells me so,” said Chitembwe.
Online Reporter