admin
Augustine Hwata Harare Bureau
UNDER-FIRE Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi appears to have won the first round of his battle to remain in charge of the technical team as a reshuffle in the club’s executive that had wanted him out is now imminent.
On May 5, the Harare City executive wrote a letter to fire Mawiwi from his post but the decision was not endorsed by the chairman Leslie Gwindi and club patron Harare mayor Benard Manyenyeni.
Gwindi, writing on his Facebook page, hinted the executive will be reshuffled.
“This week, thanks to the international break, we are plugging the leaks with announcement of a new executive that will offer leadership to the brand as deserving the size,” wrote Gwindi.
“While I can state clearly that the coach Bigboy Mawiwi is remaining as coach, the same cannot be said of the executive which I lead. The coach knows what is expected of him. He does not need the threat of sack to know his resume.
“It is not like we are sparing him the rod because he got it right against Triangle at Rufaro last Friday.
“But we can state here and clear that we are seeking all the help we may muster to offer the coach help, technically. Like many of us, he has his limitations and we will seek ways to assist him get the results. Granted football is about results.
“We cannot be seen to just criticise the coach and not try to help him. We have seen, not just this year, that he needs some help. It was apparent even last season, when it appeared easier to seal the title than bottle it.
“Well, guys, you know as much as I do that football is a game of performance and the best judge is results. For that reason, you have seen several stories being bandied around as the reason the side have drawn blank points in five attempts despite playing their eye-catching football.
“Many expected me to take the easy route and fire the coach. But that did not happen. Not because I am a one-man stop shop at Town House nor am I a sophisticated if not arrogant aristocrat with style as alleged in many pages, including social media.
“Far from it.
“Ours is a corporate and as such all decisions are taken after serious analysis and consummate consideration. Ours is not a community team whose assets are stripped bare by anyone bound by emotional dispositions of the most vocal.”
Meanwhile, Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa has claimed that Harare City recently offered him big money for him to switch to the Sunshine Boys.
Pasuwa said he turned down the approach from the bottom side to stay at Dynamos.
“I had been offered big money at Harare City but I chose to stay at Dynamos,” said Pasuwa soon after the 0-0 draw with Shabanie Mine at Maglas Stadium on Sunday.
Like Mawiwi, Pasuwa has also been unconvincing since the season started, winning three games, losing as many and drawing once. The Harare giants have 10 points, four adrift of table-topping Hwange. Pasuwa admitted that there is always pressure at the club.
“There is always pressure at Dynamos. I am happy that we have improved in terms of defending as a team and we will be working hard on the strikers who are lacking the technique to score goals upfront,” he said.
Pasuwa has been under pressure from the Dynamos executive which was divided over his future but board chairman Bernard Marriot stood his ground. That saw Pasuwa remaining as the Glamour Boys coach.
Harare City wanted the most successful local coach and had dangled a carrot believed to be around $6,000 but Pasuwa who has also played for Dynamos, chose not to leave his childhood team.
Pasuwa has won three successive league titles and nine trophies in three years.
There was an attempted boardroom coup a few weeks ago that sought to install David “Yogi” Mandigora to replace Pasuwa. Mandigora had earlier resigned from the vice-chairman’s post apparently readying himself for a takeover but he was re-assigned to the juniors.
Online Reporter