Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze, Zimpapers Sports Hub
SWEAT rolled down Joel Luphahla’s brow as he prowled the touchline, his face tight with frustration during Simba Bhora’s 1-1 draw against Highlanders at Wadzanayi Stadium. The air was thick with pressure, and for once, the usually composed coach looked agitated, every gesture a reflection of a man caught between expectation and disappointment.
It was easy to see why Simba had gone five matches without a win, and no amount of tactical adjustment or rallying words could turn things around. Luphahla knew that both his reputation and the club’s title defence were on the line.
By the final whistle, Simba’s hopes were gone. The result saw them drop from second to third on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League table, ending any realistic shot at retaining their championship.
“Falling off the championship race, especially after fighting for so long, is painful and disappointing,” Luphahla said. “At the end of the day, as a coach, I take full responsibility for everything that’s happening here.”
With two games left, Simba Bhora sit third with 57 points, behind MWOS (58) and champions Scottland (65). Scottland have already sealed the title and will officially be crowned after their final match against TelOne in Gweru.
For Luphahla, this season has been both a baptism of fire and a statement of intent. The former Warriors midfielder, who holds a Caf B licence, took over at Simba at the start of the year, his first stint as a Premier League head coach.
He inherited a team stripped of its 2024 core and had to rebuild almost from scratch.
Still, for much of the campaign, Simba looked ready to defend their crown. They led for several weeks before their late collapse.
“As a coach, I feel that I’ve let myself down considering the standard I had set,” he admitted. “I also let the boys down. I set the bar very high when I began this journey and finishing top was going to be the best success story. But things happen along the way. We’re still learning the trade, and it’s not easy. We hit a bad patch at the wrong time.”
Luphahla attributes the slump to a mix of pressure, inexperience, and the added weight of continental football preparations.
“We started the season slow, then picked up and made people believe in us, but in the end, it became difficult again,” he said. “Maybe it was pressure. Experience might have also crept in. We have only five seasoned players, the rest are relatively new.
“I believe we failed to handle the pressure and lost confidence. Our team wastes more scoring chances than others, and that tells you something. Some of these boys had never played high pressure games before. But I’m hopeful that next year we’ll have learned something from this.
“We’ll draw positives from it and come back stronger. Personally, I’ll grow from these disappointments and make sure next season I improve.”
