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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS’ failure to hold on to one of the most prized assets in local football, Trevor Mavhunga, was highly due to Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera’s decisiveness.
The midfielder spent the past two seasons with the Glamour Boys and he was expected to renew his stay with new coach Herbert “Jompano” Maruwa having expressed his willingness to have him in the fold.
The negotiations were ongoing and Mavhunga actually wanted to extend his marriage with the club.
But, it was the snail’s pace at which the talks were moving, largely exacerbated by a cloud of uncertainty given coach Tonderai Ndiraya was on his way out that irked the former Triangle anchorman.
And it was around the same time that Mavhunga received a call from Tapera.
The latter had just joined the Mutare-based outfit following the sacking of Johanisi Nhumwa and he was crafting his 2023 recruitment plan when decided to inquire about Mavhunga’s availability.
While Dynamos were lackadaisical, Manica Diamonds quickly secured the midfielder and on December 20 last year, Mavhunga had signed a pre-contract and was virtually on the miners’ roster for 2023.
Although Dynamos made some frantic efforts to retain the player, including tabling an incredibly lucrative offer in January, it was simply too late.
And it should be given to Tapera who has assembled a strong-looking outfit which has prompted analysts to tip the team for the big one this coming term.
The former Triangle coach, who also signed Dynamos outcast Ralph Kawondera, confirmed his team acted faster as soon as they discovered that Mavhunga would be a free agent by December 31 last year.
This is the same approach he used to capture some of the best players in the country who have landed at Manica Diamonds, including goalkeepers Tadious Baye and Geoffrey Chitsumba, Donald Ngoma, Gerald Bhero and Kelvin Giwa, among others.
“I think for now; we are done with new signings. We concluded all the deals by 20 December last year. I knew that waiting till late would have been inconvenient to us.
“The market becomes very distorted during the January-March window with players being overpriced as well,” said Tapera.
“So as soon as we were informed that we would be at Manica Diamonds, we had to act quickly. We talked to all those players who joined between November and December last year.
“We agreed on everything and before Christmas, I was done with the new signings. I knew exactly who I wanted in the team and those we would be letting go from the club. So both sets of players knew everything before Christmas.”
Manica Diamonds played their first practice match against newly-promoted GreenFuel at the Mutare Showgrounds on Saturday with Tapera drawing some positives from the two-phased match.
“It was our first training game and I was impressed with how we managed the game and how we are mastering the art of building up play from the back,” said Tapera.
“Our level of fitness is not bad at the moment. We are creating a lot of chances although we still need to do more on both creation and conversion of those chances.
“We will work on our flaws going forward and see what we can achieve. The idea is to build a formidable outfit which is able to beat anyone in the league. We are still building our physicality, technicality, mentality and also our tactics.”
Tapera expressed satisfaction in all the departments while admitting the goalkeeping post presents a headache, though in a good way, for him.
Veteran Jorum Muchambo, who kept 11 clean sheets last term for the club, will be keen to play every match but he will have to be at his best to stifle competition from the reigning ZIFA Eastern Region Division One Soccer Star and Goalkeeper of the Year, Baye.
Baye was the star of the GreenFuel successful promotion push after keeping 23 clean sheets.
Chitsumba will also be in the mix after an impressive season at Triangle last year, having been plugged from Dynamos by Tapera again.
Online Reporter