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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
CHIPINGE-BASED Castle Lager Premiership outfit, GreenFuel FC coach, Rodwell Dhlakama is convinced that his machinery is well oiled to maintain its slot among the big boys of domestic football, come the end of the 2023 season.
Dhlakama, who assumed duty in the Lowveld after the technical department led by Lloyd ‘Samaita’ Mutasa and Bekithemba Ndlovu was shown the exit, has been guiding the club out of the murky relegation waters from Day One.
When Dhlakama joined the Billy Rautenbach-owned team, Boys Dzenharo, as they are fondly referred to by their fans in the Lowveld, were rooted at the basement of the 18-team Castle Lager Premiership table with only two points to show after six rounds of league matches.
GreenFuel FC then started life under Dhlakama with a date against fellow debutants, Simba Bhora, away at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, and to his credit, the match ended in the clubs first triumph of the season.
It now appears, the grand entry of Dhlakama marked the resurgence of a team that was almost being viewed as befitting candidates for relegation from the Premiership.
To date, GreenFuel are in 12th position, just two slots above the drop zone, but the team is tied at 14 points with Yadah Stars and ZPC Kariba — teams that are just above the relegation zone
With the progress that has been made so far, Dhlakama has every reason to believe that his team is in the top-flight league to stay.
“We are not taking giant strides, but we are moving forward and that is a good paradigm shift towards achieving our set goals of keeping the Premier Soccer League status unbleached.
“We are a new team and we are bound to make a few steps as we try to navigate through the tides, but as we proceed in the season, we will ensure that we learn fast to progress towards our goals.
“We can categorically state that our main specific objectives are attainable, given the support and resources, both human and personnel at our disposal,” said the former Young Warriors coach.
Dhlakama believes GreenFuel needs to survive for the sake of keeping top-flight league football in Chipinge.
“For the first time in the history of Zimbabwe football, we have a team in Chipinge District and that should be something to put in Guinness Book of World Records. To think that the team can just disappear like morning dew is unacceptable.
“Surely, we will work hard to ensure that this community will also have the same feeling, same sporting entertainment that all other districts enjoy unabated.
“Working hard is key and when you have the team management supporting the boys, that is of paramount importance,” said the former Ngezi Platinum gaffer.
On Sunday, GreenFuel face a turbulent CAPS United that has been in the news, all for the wrong reasons.
But Dhlakama is not reading too much in any of this.
“We have a decent squad which does not short of experience, so playing CAPS United is not a big deal. We really do not have much pressure because being a new team in the Premiership, we will go with the underdog tag, but what will come out of that match will surprise many.
“We will not read much on their (CAPS United) in-house challenges. We wish to play a stable CAPS united, and let the supporters of both teams enjoy the competition between the two teams,” he said.
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