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Langton Nyakwenda
SIMBA NDORO must have been dreaming big when he revived the football project called Simba Bhora a few years ago.
A football fanatic, gold dealer and businessman, the 45-year-old Ndoro has invested close to a million US dollars in the project.
What started off as a mere fulfilment of a dream to own a football club culminated in Simba Bhora’s historic promotion into the Premier Soccer League last year.
They became the first team from Mashonaland Central’s gold-mining town of Shamva to gain promotion into the top-flight.
The youthful Ndoro, who is nicknamed Buju by his peers, is also in the process of upgrading Wadzanai Stadium at a cost of US$500 000 to meet Premiership standards. Excited by his team’s promotion, he dug deeper into his pockets to provide over US$50 000 to finance a massive player recruitment exercise.
Former Dynamos captain Partson Jaure, ex-Polokwane City winger Talent Chawapiwa, versatile player Blessing Moyo, Tichaona Chipunza, Keith Murera, Albert Manenji and Valentine Musarurwa were added to the team.
They joined other experienced players like Ronald Chitiyo, Simba Chinani, Webster Tafa, Tafadzwa Jaravani, Ali Sadiki and Tinashe Balakasi, who helped the team gain promotion from the Northern Region Soccer League.
On paper, it was a solid cast boasting at least six players with international football experience.
The club also managed to lure high-profile coach Tonderai Ndiraya, a former Chibuku Super Cup winner with Ngezi Platinum Stars.
He also led giants Dynamos to a respectable third position in the Premier Soccer League in 2022.
Former DeMbare chairperson Isaiah Mupfurutsa was roped in to provide experience in the boardroom.
But 134 days after making their Premiership debut with a 1-2 loss to champions FC Platinum on March 18, Simba Bhora find themselves flirting with relegation.
With just three wins in 16 matches, they are 15th on the 18-team log.
Their best position in the league so far was eighth after Match Day Five.
Their worst was 16th after round 13 of the league marathon.
Ndiraya’s men have 16 points out of a possible 48, translating to a poor 33.3 percent success rate.
More worryingly, they have one win in their last 11 games.
They play Black Rhinos at Bata Stadium in Gweru this afternoon well aware another defeat might leave them in the relegation zone.
Their winless run was compounded by a 2-1 reverse at the hands of ZPC Kariba at Baobab Stadium last weekend, which Ndiraya attributed to complacency.
“It was heart-breaking . . . I think it was all about complacency on the part of the team,” Ndiraya lamented.
Strangely, that loss came a week after Simba Bhora had stunned Ngezi Platinum Stars at the same venue.
“We are looking to correct our mistakes; we conceded soft goals. If you ask me, we gave away two goals.
“That’s how it is. We need to shift our focus to the game against Black Rhinos. We need to work on the mentality of the players; we need the players to have a very positive mind,” he said.
Speculation has been rife that Ndiraya has been given an ultimatum, though it appears some members of the club’s executive still have faith in the former Young Warriors coach to turn the corner in the second half of the season.
Ndoro did not give too much away and, instead, sounded like someone who has given Ndiraya a revised target to save the team from relegation.
“After investing a lot, obviously you expect good results, but football is tricky because sometimes you don’t get the results you want,” Ndoro said.
“The idea now is to survive. We are new boys and we are learning and we will regroup for next season with more experience.”
Just like Simba Bhora, Rhinos are also in trouble.
The army side anchor the log with 11 points from 16 matches and are under pressure to start winning in order to work their way out of the danger zone.
◆ Twitter: @LangtonGuraz
Online Reporter