adminseen their stock on the continent take a plunge.
Dynamos first bowed out of the Champions League in humiliating fashion when being handed a massive 7-1 aggregate defeat by holders Esperance of Tunisia in a second round encounter.
The Glamour Boys were then relegated to the Confederation Cup along with a host of Champions League second round casualties, including Coton Sport Garoua, and the Sudanese pair of Edward Sadomba’s Al Hilal and El Merreikh, who eliminated FC Platinum from the Champions League.
In crashing out of the Confederation Cup Dynamos also missed out on potentially exciting duels against their former talisman Sadomba and El Merreikh who booked their mini-league place after seeing off a spirited challenge from Sunday Chidzambwa’s Black Leopards.
Sadomba was not on target when Al Hilal beat Malian outfit C. O Bamako 1-0 away on Saturday night but he had found the target in their 2-0 first leg win at home.
The Zimbabwe international, eyeing the Confederation Cup Golden Boot award, will now relish the opportunity of leading Al Hilal into the tournament’s semi-final following a favorable draw that pits his club against InterClube and familiar enemies and Sudanese rivals El Merreikh and surprise packages Al Ahly Shandy in the group stage.
While Sadomba continues to search for continental glory with Al Hilal, his former team Dynamos are expected to this week take a critical analysis of their slide in the African game in which they have now twice in succession failed to reach the Champions League group stage.
Dynamos, one of the seeded teams when the Champions League draw was conducted had, also been odds on favourites to overcome InterClube and make an impact in the Confederation Cup.
Club secretary-general, Kazembe, however, noted that Dynamos’ failure was a manifestation of the underlying problems that have been haunting the club, largely related to financial constraints and lack of a proper business approach.
Kazembe said as Dynamos review their failure on the continent and plan to resume the defence of their Castle Premiership title, there was also need for “greater unity within the club, from the board of directors through to the supporters’’.
Just like his chairman Kenny Mubaiwa, Kazembe has been vocal in defending under pressure coach Callisto Pasuwa, arguing that firing the former Zimbabwe midfielder would not be the solution that would turn Dynamos into a dominant force in Africa once again.
“Firing Pasuwa is like dealing with symptoms and not the cause of the disease,” said Kazembe.
“There are still more problems to be resolved at the club, there is more to it than just what is happening on the pitch and this is what we all need to work on.
“There is a certain culture of doing things at the club that also has to give way to the changing face of football because we cannot continue to live in past glory.
“We need to take a business approach and maximise on the big brand that Dynamos is.
“In asset value what does the club have? What are the evaluation methods being used to measure the club’s achievements in the past decade?
“If the whole Dynamos family could unite and concentrate on taking the club to another level instead of wanting to pull each other down then we will achieve success’’.
The Harare businessman said it was imperative that the Dynamos leadership gave their coach an assurance about his job so that he focuses on his assignments.
“The coach cannot plan when he doesn’t know what tomorrow holds for him, he needs some sort of peace of mind,” said Kazembe.
“Even the executive, how can they plan when they don’t know what tomorrow holds for them?
“We need to have holistic approach so this idea of chopping and changing people won’t work.
“I wish the board also got united so that they can set targets and maybe have a five-year plan and see to it that there are structures to implement that plan and check if the those put in place can match the club’s objectives.”
Kazembe said Dynamos’ perennial problems with funding made it unrealistic for the Harare giants to rely on buying players each season, arguing that only a vibrant junior policy that capitalises on the club’s brand, would provide the long-term solution.
“Dynamos cannot rely on buying players because we do not have the resources so I think a vibrant junior policy where you groom your own talent is the way.
“Of course it may seem like taking a few steps backwards since there is always pressure for results at Dynamos and people may not be patient with young players.
“But without ruffling a lot of feathers if we look at the clubs that have resources and bought a lot of players like FC Platinum and you look at their position on the log at the moment and the fact that they were still runners-up last year you can see that buying does not necessarily bring you instant results.
“At times it’s about identifying your strengths and weaknesses then using those strengths. Dynamos’ strength is its big brand but it weakness is that it does not have the finances.
“I feel that a lot of talented youngsters want to be associated with the big brand that Dynamos is and it’s for us to have strong Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and
Under-19 structures. You cannot use your weakness to get a competitive edge,” said Kazembe.
Kazembe, however, paid tribute to the Dynamos board for the peace prevailing at the club but said everyone needed to unite to take the cub forward ahead of its 50th Anniversary next year.
Online Reporter