adminThere was no official confirmation from FC Platinum officials who have decided to first clear all the labour-related processes before issuing a public statement.
But Rahman was barred from taking charge of the team’s training session yesterday and was actually in the central business district of the town while his team was training.
Assistant coach, Tendai Chikuni, who was brought by Gumbo as his trusted lieutenant, took charge of the training session and will direct operations in the league game against Hardbody today.
Sources at the club, however, told The Herald that Gumbo had been axed.
“We fired Gumbo yesterday (Monday) and Chikuni (Tendai) will be in charge tomorrow (today) against Hardbody,” said the sources.
“We have actually safe-guarded him because the fans have been baying for his blood.”
Relations between Rahman and the fans have been stormy and he was the target of verbal abuse when FC Platinum were beaten at home by Highlanders.
The fans have been disillusioned by the team’s recent performance, scrapping a last-minute win against Blue Rangers and then being outplayed in a 0-2 defeat by Monomotapa.
That rivals Shabanie, who don’t have the financial resources that FC Platinum have, are faring better than their neighbours has hurt the fans of the country’s richest football club.
Chikuni will be assisted by Patrick Mandizha.
Rahman could not be reached on his mobile but news of his dismissal dominated this mining town yesterday.
He arrived in Zvishavane last season from Botswana’s Mochudu Centre Chiefs and his first match was against Highlanders.
He took over the hot seat at FC Platinum with the team having a healthy 15-point lead over Dynamos in last year’s Premiership championship race.
But by the end of the campaign, the Glamour Boys were champions after winning a crucial game 1-0 at Mandava.
Dynamos also eliminated FC Platinum from the semi-finals of the Mbada Diamonds Cup with a 1-0 win at Barbourfields.
Gumbo then went on a buying spree, at the beginning of this season, sending Norman Maroto, Nelson Mazivisa, Francis Kanda, Benjamin Marere, Bekhimpilo Nyoni,
William Manondo and Brighton Dube, on loan.
Only Donald Ngoma, from the team that won promotion for FC Platinum into the Premiership, remains active in the team.
Mazivisa has rubbed salt into Rahman’s wounds by leading the goal-scoring charts in the league and powering Shabanie into pole position.
That Rahman was even forced to swallow his pride and call Mazivisa into the national team, a talent he had deemed not good enough to play for FC Platinum, put into context the confusion related to his judgment.
FC Platinum were bundled out of the Champions League by El Merreikh of Sudan.
Gumbo had started this year’s campaign on a rather promising note after beating lowly Black Mambas 3-1 away at home but has seen the miners failing to maintain consistency as they drew their last three assignments.
They drew 1-1 against Hwange at the Colliery, were held to a 2-2 deadlock by Shabanie Mine in the Zvishavane derby after their neighbours came from behind to level the scores besides being one-man short.
The team then settled for another 1-1 draw against Chicken Inn although Gumbo did not preside over the assignment as he was attending a Caf B Licence course in Harare, but the result did little to shake off speculation about his future.
His contract stipulated that he had to collect a certain number of points in the first five games of the season, something that he failed to do, although the FC Platinum decided to give him the benefit of doubt.
But there has been little improvement and the writing was on the wall when fans bayed for his blood but the management chose to give him a chance.
Attendance plummeted at Mandava as many of the club’s fans decided to stay away.
While Rahman has won championships here and in Malawi and Botswana, the local league, without the cover of coaching Highlanders, Dynamos or CAPS United, was always going to be a tougher assignment.
The league in Malawi isn’t anything to write home about and Madinda Ndlovu’s recent championship-winning success story in Botswana, against a background of his failure at Black Mambas, put the game in that country into context.
The FC Platinum management might also have felt let down that they paid a fortune, on Rahman’s recommendations, to bring defender Itai Gwandu from Botswana but, after less than six months, he was off-loaded after failing to meet the standards.
Online Reporter