Has Chunga failed?

trouble erupted at Rufaro, with a militant section of the Green Machine fans demanding the coach’s resignation, following a 0-2 defeat at the hands of champions Motor Action.
It was Makepekepe’s second loss, in seven league matches this season, after a flying start in which they won their first three matches and scored 14 goals in the process.
Chunga insisted yesterday that he will not walk away from CAPS United, despite intense pressure from a militant section of the club’s fans, as statistics backed his argument that he has not failed in his second stint at the Harare giants.
The former Warriors’ skipper was targeted by his critics, among a hard-core section of CAPS United fans, who hurled all sorts of insults in his direction and demanded that he leave the club following the loss to the Mighty Bulls.
Chunga has a frosty relationship with some CAPS United fans who have struggled to embrace him into their corner, because of his roots in Dynamos, and the Green Machine’s bumpy ride in recent matches has sparked unrest in their camp.
Yesterday, Chunga said he will stay as CAPS United coach and will, in fact, work even harder to prove that he had the capacity to win the league championship with the club and, hopefully, win the hearts of his critics.
“I’m not leaving the club despite everything that has happened because I have a mission that I want to complete and, even though we have faced some challenges of late, I’m still confident we are on the right track,” said Chunga.
“My appeal to the fans is that we are together in this journey and we will be stronger if we are united because we are chasing the same dream of winning the championship.
“You can see that the pressure is now even affecting our players, who no longer have the freedom they had in the first three matches, and they can only thrive and do their best if they feel the fans are behind them.
“I’m the head coach and I take responsibility for the results and we are trying our best, together as a team with my players, to get the results that can make our fans happy and it is important that we have a united, instead of a divided, house.”
Chunga said he didn’t come back to CAPS United to fail.
“I will be the first to leave if I see that it’s not working and I’m not helping the situation because there is no need to keep hanging around when you have failed,” said Chunga.
But has Chunga failed?
The former Zimbabwe captain, who won the league championship as head coach of Gunners two years ago, arrived at CAPS United in September last year after the Green Machine parted company with Lloyd Chitembwe under intense pressure from some of their fans.
CAPS United had played 13 league matches, won four, drawn four, lost five, scored 16 goals and conceded as many goals and had 16 points when Chunga arrived for his second spell.
Chitembwe’s failure rate, at the time he left the club, was 41.02 percent.
CAPS United won their first game, under Chunga, when they beat Shooting Stars 1-0 at Rufaro, where the coach was mobbed by delirious fans, and a 1-0 away to FC Victoria at Mucheke gave them two wins out of two.
By the end of the season last year, CAPS United played 17 league matches under Chunga, won nine, drew five and lost just three matches, including a 2-4 loss to Motor Action. They scored 25 goals and conceded just 12.
That return gave Chunga a 62.74 percent success rate in the league.
Joey Antipas, who took the Mighty Bulls to their maiden championship last season, did so on the back of a 66.66 percent success rate after Motor Action completed their campaign with 60 points.
Elvis Chiweshe, who finished second in the race because his Dynamos team had an inferior goal difference, also had a 66.66 percent success rate in the league.
In just 17 league matches last season, under Chunga, CAPS United scored 25 goals, just 18 short of the 43 that Dynamos scored all season in 30 games.
CAPS United also played in two cup competitions, the Zaoga Golden Jubilee, where they lost 2-3 to Highlanders after a penalty shootout after the game had ended goalless at Barbourfields, and the BancABC Sup8r Cup final.
The Green Machine were already in the final, by the time Chunga arrived, and they lost 2-3 to bitter rivals Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium.
In league and cup matches, under Chunga last year, CAPS United played 19 games, won nine, drew six, lost four, scored 27 and conceded 15 for a 57.89 percent success rate.
While Chunga failed in both cup competitions, in the league championship – the big prize that the CAPS United fans really want – he was certainly a success story and, in the second half of the season, he was one of the best three coaches.
This year CAPS United have played seven league matches, won four, drawn one, lost two, scored 16 and conceded 10 for 13 points out of a possible total of 21.
Chunga’s success rate this year, in the league, is 61.90 percent while Antipas and Chicken Inn coach Philani “Beefy” Mabhena lead the charts with a 76.19 percent success rate.
Highlanders’ coach Mkhupali “Mr Cooper” Masuku enjoys a 66.66 percent success rate in the league so far, just 4.64 percent better than Chunga, while Lloyd Mutasa is only on a 52.3 percent success rate with Dynamos so far.
Chunga currently enjoys a 9.6 percent better success rate, in the league championship race, than Mutasa.
In league matches, since his return in September last year, Chunga’s CAPS United have played 24 games, won 13, drew six, lost five, scored 41 goals, conceded 22 and have 45 points out of a possible 72.
His overall success rate of 62.5 percent in the league, since last year, is within championship winning range.
Chunga hasn’t fared well in cup matches and CAPS United did not only lose in the Zaoga Golden Jubilee semi-finals, but were beaten in the BancABC Sup8r Cup final and also lost to Dynamos in the Bob ’87 Super Cup this year.
The former Zimbabwe skipper said yesterday he was hired to win the league championship and, if that is what tops the agenda at CAPS United, then it’s hard to see where Makepe-kepe have come short under his guidance.
What is not disputable, though, is that CAPS United have lost the authority they had in the first three games and, if Chunga can re-discover the team and spirit that built that foundation, then he can negotiate his way out of the tricky position.