adminRay Bande Senior Sports Reporter
MUTARE Premiership side Buffaloes will entertain Gweru airmen Chapungu in a must-win league encounter on Sunday at Sakubva Stadium without Warriors trialist Frankson Bushiri, who has joined Bulawayo side Chicken Inn, and more players might find their way out of the financially struggling club.
With secretary and Mutare businessman Tendai Chitowa already out of the picture, Buffaloes now look up to none other than chairman Hlanganiso Matangaidze for financial assistance at least in order for them to fulfil fixtures.
Without any sponsor or donor in sight, Buffaloes have struggled to finish paying players’ signing-on fees, salaries, winning bonuses and allowances.
Bushiri, the former Shabanie Mine midfielder, had been on top of his game, especially when Buffaloes went on a six-match unbeaten run but his performance took a dip in recent weeks as the Mutare Premiership side struggled to motivate their players.
Coach Luke Masomere confirmed this week that Bushiri has left the club for Chicken Inn, saying he is fighting a lone battle to source food for the players as well as execute his coaching duties.
He said he would not be surprised if more players left the club during the transfer window.
The former Masvingo United and Shabanie Mine mentor said people in Mutare do not take football seriously and this has left him and his players in the lurch.
“I am expecting a player exodus of some sort because of the conditions that my players have been left to undergo. It is sad that people here (Mutare) do not take football seriously.
“I think I have been left alone and my players to see for ourselves. I do not have support from anyone, not even the executive and the supporters.
“When I came here I wanted to win the championship with this team and I could have done so had suitable conditions been created for me. As we speak, Frankson Bushiri has left Buffaloes and has since joined Chicken Inn.
“I wish him well there. It’s only that things are not good here and there is really nothing I could do to convince him to stay.
“In any case, I cannot try to convince a player to stay in a situation where he can go for days without a decent meal.
“One can hardly convince a player to stay in a situation where the player not only has to go for days without a decent meal but his family back in Zvishavane gets nothing from him, the breadwinner. This is what we are going through at Buffaloes,” he said.
The maverick gaffer, who dismissed rumours circulating in the eastern border city that he is on the verge of moving to another Premiership club, maintained that he would soldier on until a time when the club started producing better results.
“I am still here. Yes, I thought about leaving many a time, but I think I will just have to soldier on under these difficult circumstances. I think I will leave when the club starts producing better results.
“If I leave now, the team will most likely be relegated and I would not want people to blame me for the downfall of the team. I want to leave when they are in a safe position,” he said.
Buffaloes have lost all their recent four league matches on the trot and their fans have watched the team slither from second position on the log standings to the relegation zone.
Be that as it may, the Mutare side hosts Gweru airmen Chapungu at Sakubva Stadium on Sunday in a match Masomere’s men cannot afford to lose again if hopes of surviving the dreaded chop are to be entertained. Masomere reckons that his team desperately needs to start collecting points.
“I am looking ahead to Sunday’s game with the aim of getting three points. I think this has to be our turning point after losing a number of matches consecutively.
“I want to do my best under these extremely difficult conditions. I have to go and beg for food before starting my coaching duties. It is not easy,” said Masomere.
Online Reporter