adminSimba Dube Sports Reporter
HAVING been blowing hot and cold in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League where before yesterday’s match against Harare City they had only managed to pocket maximum points six times in 21 games is enough evidence to show how things have fallen apart at the nation’s oldest football club, Highlanders. Simply put, they have lost the gleam in their eyes and the serial killer instinct!
The recently appointed Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu led setup comes in as a stand-in technical team to replace the one that was headed by Bongani Mafu.
Although many were excited with the exit of Mafu which was triggered by inconsistent performances, there are also some positives that can be hand-picked from his marriage with Bosso. He ended a four-year wait to land Bosso’s much desired win in an open play match against old nemesis Dynamos and he also added one title (ZNA Charity Shield) to the famishing black and white trophy cabinet.
But as has been the trend in the football world, Mafu had to undergo a baptism of fire and also had to pay the price for failing to engineer a well oiled side.
The newly appointed Bosso technical team has Amini “Cousin” Soma-Phiri as the head coach, Zulu as the technical advisor and Melusi “Mabaleka” Sibanda who has been promoted from the club’s junior structures as the assistant coach. The trio has made its way through the ranks at the club over the years.
Although they return to Bosso with ample experience under their belts, however, their entrance shocked the Bosso family and left the “Bosso for life” fans with a burning question: “Will the old horses deliver the expected results?”
Despite the trio being Bosso natives, their return did not turn into a fete as most of the club’s devotees have been skeptical about the whole idea. But, the powers that be at 50 Robert Mugabe Way are optimistic that the trio is a tonic that the club need for renewal. Bringing back the club’s “old horses” may reflect a sense of panic for the Bulawayo giants, but it can also prove the Bosso executive as stout believers of the adage “experience has no substitute.”
Perhaps what might have also triggered the shock among the Bosso family is the return of the former team manager, Soma-Phiri whom the club once considered as a mercenary two years ago with accusations of sabotaging the team by benefiting from the sale of his players Milton Ncube and Peter Moyo who were on loan at Highlanders.
Soma-Phiri is fondly known in the Bosso circles, also started playing for Highlanders and is also a holder of a Zifa Level Four coaching certificate.
Tsano who is not new to the Bosso dressing room has had fruitful stints on other clubs’ benches — he was the driving force behind Quelaton’s promotion to the PSL and as a technical advisor to Luke Masomere in 2003 they won the Championship with AmaZulu. Of course, with such credentials, nothing must be taken away from the interim Bosso technical team. In a Press conference held on Thursday at the team’s club offices, Soma-Phiri declared himself as a winner as he stated that he is a man on a mission, who is definitely not looking for a loss, adding that the previous technical team had assembled a well oiled side.
“When I played for Highlanders I was always a winner, I won a lot of trophies at the club and I know that I am still a winner.
Zulu’s relationship with Bosso dates back to the 1980s when he played for the team as a striker and joined the bench as a technical manager until 1995. The same Tsano was helped by Bosso to bolster his coaching qualifications as he was sent on attachment to Coventry City (Peter Ndlovu’s former club) in 1992. There is no doubt that he knows well the Bosso culture.
Although appointed on interim basis, the Bosso technical team inherits a team that was running out of gas in the league marathon, it is no secret that their main task will be to prevent the club from going the “Zimbabwe Saints” way and also to bring back the long lost “undisputed” status that has been in the Bulawayo giants’ DNA in the yesteryears. Considering that the Bosso technical team has been part of the club since their youth days-this somehow reflects that their assembling of the team does not depend on the cheque book to sign the best football talent but in grooming their own stars within their junior structures.
With Tsano also known as a strict disciplinarian in the football circles, his father-figure way of doing things will somehow help with discipline among the Highlanders players.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter