FADED GIANTS

Robson Sharuko

Editor

SIMBA Rushwaya, a seasoned journalist who once worked as the Sports Editor at the Daily News, has questioned whether it’s still right for Dynamos and CAPS United to be called giants of the domestic football landscape.

Rushwaya was reacting after another miserable weekend for the capital’s two leading football clubs in the league championship.

CAPS United slumped to a humiliating 1-2 defeat at Arenel Movers, a club which, until Wednesday, had just won ONE of their 19 league matches.

DeMbare fired blanks, as they have done all season, in a goalless draw against Bikita Minerals at Rufaro on Sunday.

“I think it’s high time we stop calling CAPS United and Dynamos Harare giants because they are giants no more,” said Rushwaya on his social media handles.

“What constitutes a team to be called giant anyway? These two teams’ aura has evaporated. FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum and, to some extent Highlanders, are giants at the moment.”

Others will argue that both DeMbare and Makepekepe have earned their right to be called giants because what they have achieved in the past.

But, others will also argue the two clubs are living in the past and this year there is even a real possibility CAPS United could be RELEGATED.

The signs, for the two clubs, do not look good:

EIGHT years have passed since either Dynamos or CAPS United won the league championship. It’s the longest barren run, without any of them winning the title, in the 51 years in which one of both of these sides have been a part of the domestic Premiership.
Until now, the longest barren run without one of these two clubs winning the league title was SEVEN years, between 1997, when Sunday Chidzambwa won his last title at DeMbare and 2004, when Charles Mhlauri guided the Green Machine to glory.
If we combine the Dynamos points (29) and the CAPS United points (24), the two sides will have 53 points, which will just be 11 points more than what FC Platinum, as a club, have right now.
Incredibly, if we add the number of wins which both clubs have this season, six for Dynamos and six for CAPS United, we will get 12 wins and that is the number of victories Simba Bhora have in their bag this season.
So, Tonderai Ndiraya, a man who was rejected by Dynamos, has the same number of wins, on his own, as the combined number of victories by Lloyd Chitembwe and Genesis Mangombe.
CAPS United have won just ONCE in their last 10 league games, a 1-0 win over Yadah, in a game in which Khama Billiat was suspended and, while Dynamos have three wins, in their last 10 games, they came against the two clubs occupying the last two places on the table – Hwange and Arenel Movers – and GreenFuel.
Dynamos have scored only 18 goals all season and TelOne (19), Yadah (22) and Herentals (19) have scored more goals than the misfiring Glamour Boys.
Considering that three of those goals came via the boardroom, the reality is that Dynamos have only scored 15 goals this season and that puts into perspective how much they have struggled.
Herentals hardman, Godfrey Mukambi, has scored four goals in the league so far and that is a better return than everyone at Dynamos where the highest scorers have three goals.
Considering that Mukambi is mainly a defensive player, these statistics show how much the Glamour Boys are struggling for goals.
CAPS United, with 24 points, are just four points better off than TelOne, who have 20 points, and occupy the final relegation spot on the table.
Of the four Harare clubs in the Premiership, the Green Machine are currently the worst performing club and find themselves below Yadah, who have 26 points, and Herentals, who have 27 points.
Both Herentals and Yadah have won as many games as Dynamos and CAPS United (six wins) this season.