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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
HOW Mine coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube’s future at the ailing gold miners is uncertain after the club reportedly interviewed five candidates at the weekend to pick his successor.
Among the interviewed is Highlanders assistant coach Mark Mathe. This was after How Mine’s loss to FC Platinum on Saturday, their sixth.
Panic buttons were pressed after 90 minutes on Saturday as it dawned on the team’s executive that relegation was now a sobering reality and in a spell of eight hours, five coaches were interviewed.
Sources, however, said the likely choice could be the charismatic Luke Masomere who could make a return to the City of Kings after leading now defunct AmaZulu to league title glory in 2003.
Also interviewed was Godfrey Tamirepi, Mkhuphali Masuku while Hwange’s assistant coach Brian Njobvu had a telephone interview.
The gold miners were so full of potential at the start of the season with telling performances in the Caf Confederation Cup where they were eventually knocked out by Nigeria’s Bayelsa in the second and final round before the group stages.
In the league Ncube led his troops to nine games unbeaten before their world crumbled like a deck of cards and they have now gone for 10 matches without tasting a win.
Their last win was against Buffaloes on June 12 at Sakubva Stadium.
“The big guys there feel Ncube should step aside and as I speak, a decision has been reached to relieve him and from what I gather Masomere and Highlanders’ Mathe are the leading candidates to take over,” said a source close to the dressing room talk at the gold miners.
Contacted for comment, Masomere, expressed ignorance on the move saying maybe the How Mine officials are still looking for his mobile number.
“For now I know nothing of that sort but I can confirm that I got some calls from some of the How Mine players asking me when I was coming to join them. I am not sure where they got it from,” said Masomere.
Efforts to get a comment from How Mine chairman Mlondolozi Nkomo were fruitless as he is said to be out of the country on holiday but an official who asked not to be named could only say some changes are imminent.
derick.khumalo