‘It can’t be DeMbare without Mbare boys’

Don Makanyanga

THERE will be something amiss with a Dynamos side that does not have players in the dressing room who trace their roots to Mbare, the sprawling suburb where the club was formed in 1963.

Well, that is the gospel according to Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe.

“Such a Dynamos cannot be called DeMbare,” opined the Dynamos gaffer.

Chigowe is the brains behind a massive recruitment drive that has seen the majority of the new arrivals having some links with Mbare.

“It’s not accidental that we have the bulk of the players coming from Mbare and Highfield,” he added.

“We want players who feel at home when they are playing at Rufaro not players who will be away from home and are afraid of the fans when they are playing in Mbare.

“It won’t be an exclusive club of Mbare boys but the boys who know this club, its culture and appreciate what it means to play for DeMbare will be the key components of the team I am building.”

Chigowe revealed that he has since tasked the Mbare hailing trio of Edward Sadomba, Archford Gutu and Munyaradzi Diya with teaching some green horns what it means to play for Dynamos.

“It’s good to have players that have been there before and I have told our youngsters to learn as much as they can from the likes of Duduza (Sadomba), Gutu and Diya.

“We are going to entrust Sadomba with the leadership roles of the team and his job is to make sure that the young boys quickly acclimatize to this new world called Dynamos.”

But how does Highfield fit into Chigowe’s “no DeMbare without Mbare boys” gospel?

Well,his new assistant and longtime ally Expense Chitukutuku hails from Fio, as Highfield is known in street lingo.

“Expense knows the football stars from Highfield and I trust his eye and judgement,” said Chigowe.

“With Chitukutuku we come from a long way, he was my assistant when we won the Peter Ndlovu U-19 youth tournament as Highfield select in Bulawayo and we remain the only Harare side to have achieved that feat.

“He is a workaholic, has a lot of methodology and has worked with one of the top technicians in this country, Marc Duvillard. I am happy that he has come on board.”