adminRay Bande Senior Sports Reporter
THE country’s best supported outfit Dynamos will be out in search of their first set of maximum points of the season when they take on struggling Mutare City Rovers at Sakubva stadium on Sunday.
The match starts at 3pm.
Winless Dynamos engage Mutare City Rovers in a potentially exciting encounter that both sides will be out to collect their first set of maximum points.
Mutare City Rovers, who only have one goal to show for more than 180 minutes of play, are fast turning into the Castle Lager Premiership punching bags after losing 0-3 at home against fellow debutants, Ngezi Platinum, before being thrashed 1-4 by Harare City away in the capital.
Expectations in the eastern border city are that the match against Dynamos at Sakubva on Sunday could be a turning point for Mutare City Rovers, given the topsy-turvy atmosphere in the Glamour Boys camp.
DeMbare succumbed to a humiliating 0-3 defeat at the hands of defending champions, Chicken Inn in the opening round of league matches before being held to a goalless stalemate at home against Triangle in the second match.
As if that was enough, Dynamos failed to make up for their battered pride when they featured in the Independence Cup where they played two matches and could not find the back of the net to mark more than four hours of open play without scoring a goal since the 2016 season started.
The results have left the hard to please DeMbare fans turning against the Paolo George Silva-led technical department, with the Portuguese reportedly being shown the exit yesterday.
Newly appointed Mutare City Rovers coach, Taku Shariwa, has refused to read too much into the turbulence in the Dynamos camp and will only focus on getting a good result when the two teams clash at Sakubva stadium.
Shariwa said it would be unfortunate for his team to pay more attention on what is going on at Dynamos.
“As a new coach I have to start on a positive note and that is my aim. We are coming in as underdogs given the pedigree of the team that we will be playing.
“We will not waste our time trying to concentrate on the issues at Dynamos. They are a big team and are capable of turning things around in a short space of time. All I am concerned with is to get a good result no matter which opponent we will face.
“I just want to make sure that we start collecting points so that we can evade relegation. I know it has to be this time and fans just have to be patient.
“Our main objective is to avoid relegation in our debut season and we just have to start picking up points. This week we will take on DeMbare. Yes, we are the underdogs on paper, but we will play our best football rather than concentrate on DeMbare.
“I argue all our fans to throng to the stadium and support their home team. Positive results will eventually come. Fans just need to be patient while we improve on different areas as a team,” said the youthful former Hartley Academy gaffer.
Shariwa, a holder of CAF B coaching licence, called for patience.
“Patience is all I need from everyone and support from all people is needed to motivate us. All I can assure you is that we will not be relegated at the end of the season.
“We have few players with experience and some are still raw, but given time we will improve as a team and see if it is feasible to eliminate others and replace them. I do not begrudge the technical team that was there.
They did a good job. I respect the signed players, but they have to prove to the community why they got selected,” he said.
Shariwa took over from Kenny ‘Bokande’ Kachara in a technical reshuffle that saw the later being demoted to play the role of assistant coach, while Ephraim Masakure, who was assistant coach before the recent changes is now the team’s fitness trainer.
Although he is not so popular, Shariwa has played for ZUPCO Harare and has coached a number of local clubs including Eagles, Monomotapa, Township Rangers, Hippo Valley and recently Hartley Academy.
Online Reporter