Do we have a leadership crisis?

Bothwell Mahlengwe
WHEN I wrote an article titled, “I am happy Mubaiwa lost”, I received mixed reactions from people. My relationship with the Dynamos leadership was strained with some of the privileges I used to enjoy being instantly stripped. Today, I stand vindicated. Mubaiwa has a big task on his hands. He is the captain of a ship called Dynamos FC and the ship is off course.

He needs to steer it back into the right course otherwise Dynamos can kiss goodbye to their chances of winning a fourth consecutive league.
Pasuwa has done his part and the team has been on course for decent title challenge but player unrest due to financial challenges seems to be derailing his efforts.
He seems alone in this battle as the team couldn’t even pay for his participation fees for the on-going CAF A coaching course.

In my earlier article, I asked why Mubaiwa wanted more responsibilities.
Is it ego? Fame? Pride? Power?
Why are Dynamos in these financial doldrums when they used to manage fairly well without any sponsor?
It’s not long ago when Farai Munetsi was chairman and all these bonus payment problems were non-existent.
Dynamos now have a sponsor, who takes care of the team’s salary bill, travel and camping expenses.

Surprisingly, the club can’t pay winning bonuses.
Are we missing something here?
Has the Banc ABC sponsorship led to complacency and mismanagement on the part of the executive?
Dynamos are the cash cow of Zimbabwean soccer. Any team that plays Dynamos at their home have their pay day.
How then does that same cow fail to feed its own calves when it plays at home at least 15 times in one season?
It really defies logic.

Simple calculation shows that Dynamos need at most US$160 000 to pay winning bonuses, that is if they win all their league matches.
Assuming 10 000 paying spectators watch all their home games at US$3 each and they net 40 percent of their gross gate takings, Dynamos should have an income of at least US$180 000 from gate takings alone.
But they don’t win all their games.

Assuming they win 75 percent of their games, then they require US$120 000 for their bonuses.
From US$180 000, that’s a surplus of over US$60 000.
A deeper look gives an impression that there is more pilferage than before the BancABC came on board, that is, all things being equal, something Mubaiwa should be able to identify and stem.

Dynamos are the biggest team in the land and they can’t afford to ill-treat their players to the extent of paying an injured player for only two games.
That is insensitive and inhuman.
Where in this world have you ever heard of that? Do you think they choose to be injured?
The consequences of such ill-advised decisions are far reaching. You will have players not entering into tackles for fear of getting injured.

And those injured forcing their way back into training before they are fully fit. And you can imagine the results.
I believe Mubaiwa and his team have been sitting on their laurels and it’s time we see some result-oriented action from these guys.
We cannot afford to have a big brand like Dynamos continue to have financial challenges year in-year-out and the executives continue business as usual.
The speed with which they took to rightly and deservedly discipline Murape and Mutuma is the same speed that they should use to arrest the club’s financial woes.
For starters, the big question is do they have a strategic plan at hand?
I hope they do.

And if they do, what does it entail vis-à-vis arresting this demon of financial challenges? From my assessment, the current leadership has done little to secure the long-term interests of Dynamos.

All we have heard are cries that corporate partners are not coming on board but partners come only where they derive value.
As it is the Dynamos brand is tainted – financial mismanagement, players’ indiscipline, disjointed management team, lack of planning and lack of vision.
What is needed is a strong and aggressive marketing plan that packages Dynamos into an attractive and appreciable partner from which the corporate world derive some value.

Dynamos are the most supported team in the country. What are the leaders doing to take advantage of that?
It defies logic that UFI church is more financially stable than Dynamos comparing the number of their congregants to Dynamos supporters.
What UFI has simply done is to offer value to their followers through a wide range of products – wrist bands, stickers, water, oil and the like. That’s creativity.
Surprisingly, you cannot do the same. Imagine every Dynamos supporter getting a 2014 Dynamos wrist band and sticker for a dollar each?

What has been happening on the replica jerseys front? I understand Highlanders is selling more than Dynamos. Why? They have a plan.
The Dynamos brand is rich. You just need to think outside the box.
If you can’t do it on your own, outsource from the gurus. Just make sure that investment pays back. Or better still visit SA clubs and see what they are doing that you are not doing.

You cannot continue to wait for the corporate world to rescue you. They won’t. They have their own challenges.
I understand the chairman has Dynamos at heart and has been a loyal supporter since his youth.
We are in the same boat and the same goes for other millions out there.

That and success in other fields does not easily translate into a good football administrator.
This is a different ball game. It needs vision, creativity, passion, dedication and humility.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
This one is taking long to shine. It’s better you rush down there and light it.

Dynamos cannot go on like this. No. We need new problems. Problems like we now have too much money in the bank how can we invest it?
Should we buy CAPS United and make them wear our beautiful blue and white strip or build our own facilities?

Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email – [email protected]