DeMbare cry foul

revealed that Archford Gutu’s late withdrawal from their squad nearly sent their plans for the big day off the rails.

The Zimbabwe international midfielder, who had been earmarked for a big role in the Harare Derby, slipped out of the country on Saturday evening for trials in Sweden.
Gutu was one of two Zimbabwean players who left for trials in Sweden with highly-rated Highfield United midfielder Abbas Amidu also getting his chance to break into a foreign club.

Apparently Gutu’s management team, led by Calvin Nyazema, tried to delay his departure until after the Harare Derby but the Swedish side insisted that the players had to arrive on Sunday or the trials would be put off.

Gutu, who was expected to be the star player in midfield for Dynamos, was badly missed by the Glamour Boys who played second fiddle, in the crucial engine room, for long periods to their rivals who flooded the midfield with five players.

With Denver Mukamba also unavailable, after falling foul of the football laws having been sent off against Chicken Inn, Gutu’s absence was badly felt.
DeMbare won the match 2-1, courtesy of a late Roderick Mutuma brace, after Evans Gwekwerere had thrust Makepekepe into the lead earlier in the second half.

Dynamos secretary Nyika Chifamba yesterday said the Glamour Boys executive was not amused and will seek a meeting with Gutu’s manager, Nyazema.
“We are very upset with what happened with regards regard to Gutu’s issue because proper procedures were not followed,” said Chifamba.

“To say the least, this nearly jeopardised our coaches’ plans for the game against CAPS United, which they had spent the whole week working on with Gutu in mind.
“How can a player be withdrawn from the camp 24 hours before a crucial game like the Harare Derby?
“Remember the fans pay their hard-earned cash to watch these players in action and it appears we are shortchanging them when they find some of their favourite players missing without explanation.

“This is not the first time that we have encountered this problem with Gutu and his manager and we are saying this thing should come to an end.
“We are in good books with Calvin but I am surprised he never communicates with us when he intends to send the player out of the country for trials, yet we paid signing-on fees for his services.
“It’s just not fair on our side because he has missed a lot of games yet we have an arrangement with him. It’s worrying because this issue has been repeated without proper communication,” said Chifamba.

Nyazema insisted last night that he did not only officially advise the club of the midfielder’s move but also tried to find a way to delay the departure.
Gutu is trying his luck at Kalmer and is only expected back home on August 13.

“I communicated with the technical team and they seemed to understand the situation from our conversation. It’s not like I just acted without consulting anyone from the club,” said Nyazema.
“Otherwise if it was possible for the player not to leave at the weekend then I could have changed the ticket to Monday.”

Gutu has been in and out of the team with intermittent trial commitments, which included a stint in Bulgaria and another in South Africa.
But Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa said they were focusing on reviving their challenge for the title in the final league stretch following a first half of mixed fortunes.

DeMbare are currently seven points adrift of leaders FC Platinum, who cemented their place at the top of the table with a last minute penalty conversion against Kiglon on Saturday.
Mutasa is drawing satisfaction from the team’s form, after an inspired CAPS United performance and coming back from behind to complete a double over their rivals.

Dynamos, who had struggled to maintain consistency in the first half of the season, have collected 10 points from their last four games.
“We are on course because we wanted to finish the first 15 games in the top four and we achieved that.

“We have now set ourselves a new target that we should try as much as possible not to lose points in the six games beginning from our last match against Chicken Inn,” said Mutasa.
There were no positional changes in the top nine and Dynamos have 29 points from 17 games while CAPS remained seventh with 22.

Makepekepe put on a good show, despite their defeat to Dynamos on Sunday, with midfielders Marvel Samaneka, David Rediyoni, Stephen Alimenda and Asani Nhongo stamping theirsuperiority.

“We tried hard and the boys put up a spirited fight although we could not convert some of our chances. But I am happy with the way we played and the new players fitted in well.
“It shows they are quality players and once they settle we can have a stronger team.
“We hope to continue playing like this and hopefully get positive results soon,” said coach Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe.

The new technical team, led by Jongwe, will have to look for answers to the team’s bad patch as they have gone without a win in their last five league encounters.
The competition is getting stiffer at the top as all the top teams collected maximum points over the weekend.

Motor Action coach Joey Antipas has branded current log leaders FC Platinum the favourites for the title this season after the Premiership rich boys maintained their grip with a victory over Kiglon.
Midfielder Menard Mupera converted from the spot in the last minute to separate the teams as the match had appeared headed for a 1-1 draw at Gwanzura.

FC Platinum’s Charles Sibanda had scored earlier before Kiglon found the equaliser through Mudiwa Mususa.
“We are playing catch-up game and as things stand, FC Platinum are the favourites.

“But in a game of football anything can happen and we shall try to maintain the pressure, hoping that they slip up,” said Antipas.
Motor Action beat Masvingo 3-1 at Mucheke.

Midfielder Allen Gahadzikwa celebrated his 25th birthday with a brace in the match and Gift Phiri scored the third.
This was Motor Action’s first win in their last seven league outings, five of which had ended in successive draws.

“We dominated the match from the first whistle and it was a must for us that we should win to stay in the race.
“I am happy the boys showed great fighting spirit and we seem to have recovered from the draws we played in our previous games,” said Antipas.