Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE-BASED Castle Lager Premiership outfit, Manica Diamonds, have gone for FIVE consecutive draws after the heavy 1-4 defeat to Simba Bhora, taking the Jairos Tapera-coached outfit to the 12th position, the same position on the table that he took over from Johannes Nhumwa three seasons ago.
Under the tutelage of Tapera for a full season, Manica Diamonds finished as runners up in 2023, before dropping two positions in 2024 to finish fourth.
In both seasons, there were times that Tapera’s squad were favourites to win the league title, only to falter along the way.
As the club faces a rejuvenated Triangle away at Gibbo Stadium in Triangle this weekend, it appears this is the same old route for Manica Diamonds this season, and the administration is not happy.
Secretary-general, Sugar Chagonda said: “The thought of our current position on the log is unsettling. Our target this season remains that of clinching the championship.
“That mission is shared by everyone in our camp, including the supporters. At the moment, we cannot pretend to be happy with the team’s performance, especially a string of home draws. We are thoroughly worried.
“We are cognisant of the level of competition in the league, but we cannot underestimate ourselves. We are deeply introspecting our on and off the field performance with a view of setting the ship back on course to championship. “We believe we have the arsenal and everything it takes to win the league. What is crucial is to have the right mind-set and shared vision. We shall do everything within our capacity to win some silverwares for our loyal supporters now found across the country.”
This season, while Tapera might still enjoy the comfort of hoping to see the rejuvenation of his team, and claw back to the upper echelons of the log table, challenging for the title, as the club has openly declared at the onset of the season just like last season, now appears to be a pipeline dream.
Serious title contenders are collecting maximum point almost on a weekly basis, and for the not-so-shiny Gem Boys, the championship dream is slipping through their fingers, and now seem an unattainable feat, a fanciful hope, in other words.
After 13 rounds of league matches played so far in the 2025 season, Manica Diamonds have only won THREE matches and drew seven times, while losing twice.
Manica Diamonds have settled for draws, in most cases after initially taking the lead, against Kwekwe United, MWOS, TelOne, GreenFuel and Scotland.
Apparently, this is not the first time that Tapera has gone through a lean spell while at Manica Diamonds.
In the seven matches that were played between the day Tapera started the Warriors duties and the appointment of a substantive coach in May last year, Manica Diamonds were the ONLY team without victory for the period.
Their record includes six draws against Yadah (1-1 away), Dynamos (0-0 home), Bulawayo Chiefs (0-0 away), TelOne (0-0 home), Chegutu Pirates (0-0 home) and Ngezi Platinum (0-0 home), together with a defeat (0-1) away to Simba Bhora.
During that period, Manica Diamonds scored ZERO goals in six matches and the last time they scored was in the 1-1 draw against Yadah at the Heart Stadium on June 15, 2024.
Statistically, Manica Diamonds were the MOST BORING side in the Castle Lager Premiership over the seven-match period as only three goals were scored in the two matches against Yadah and Simba Bhora, while the other five had nothing.
Again, this is the same old route that Manica Diamonds is taking.
When asked on the performance of his team in view of their long cherished dream of PSL title, Tapera chose to go on a tirade as he refused to give an interview to this reporter citing an article published in the newspaper last year.
“I will not give any interview when this journalist (Ray Bande) is here. He wrote an article that was aimed at making me lose my job. I am angry, and will never talk to the media as long as this journalist is there.
“How can someone I used to visit in his area and had drinks together write something that portrays me in bad light. That is not good at all. He should have, at least, approached me and alerted me that this is what is being said.
“I do not care if it ends up having me being fined for refusing to give an interview after a match. Even if I am to be fired from this job, I do not care. I can start my own academy because I have all the material that is needed for that. “I have been in football for the past 30 years, and all those journalists like Hope Chizuzu do not treat me like that because they know I am a veteran coach,” fumed Tapera.
Apparently, Tapera was making reference to an article published last year headlined: ‘Open letter to Masimba Chihowa’, published in The Manica Post soon after the end of last season’s matches.
The article urged Manica Diamonds to craft a performance based contract for Tapera, given his failure to achieve what the team desired, albeit having all the resources needed at their disposal.
Since then, Tapera has declared persona non grata with the journalist.
Online Reporter