daniel chigunwe
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
DYNAMOS coach Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe is channelling significant energy in packaging his strike force, and the Glamour Boys have invited three more foreign nationals for assessment and possible signing.
The trio from Ghana, Tanzania, and Nigeria is expected to jet in today and will go for an audition in the next fortnight.
Dynamos’ attack was the Harare giants’ Achilles Heel in a championship race in which they finished a distant eighth.
Chigowe’s strikers failed to complement an otherwise solid backline that gave away very little.
Of course, Dynamos won the Chibuku Super Cup, but their shortcomings in front of goal were still glaring as they needed penalty lotteries to determine the outcome of their games in three stages, including the final.
And Chigowe is alive to the bluntness that plagued his charges last term, with the lanky gaffer throwing in all the details to perfect the front line.
Former Warriors striker Thomas Chideu seems headed for a contract at the Glamour Boys as he is now part of the everyday picture in the pre-season squad training.
Another prospect, Nicholas Guyo, who couldn’t be registered for the second half of the season as it was considered too late to drop someone else to create his spot, also looks set to be part of the roster this time around.
“We have Thomas Chideu with us here. He is very good, but we are working with him to reduce his weight,’’ Chigowe said.
“We are trying to get him into shape.
“He has the experience that any coach would want to lead their strike force. There is no doubt about his capabilities and his experience.
“We have got three other strikers coming in from outside the country.
“We have one coming from Ghana, the other one from Tanzania, and also from Nigeria.
“They are arriving probably tomorrow (today). Nicholas Guyo is still around and has to fight for his place. He is a very good winger; it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t be registered last year.
“We want to be able to bang goals this coming season for us to be able to compete.”
Dynamos have already signed Ghanaian forward Frank Agyemang after the 22-year-old passed his trials from last year.
After the departures of some experienced players, Dynamos have of late been promoting young talent from their developmental side and also signed a few rookies.
They will be adding some experience into the squad with veteran midfielder Devon Chafa set for a sensational comeback after a season’s flirtation with Division One football where he featured for Golden Eagles.
Former Harare City, GreenFuel, and MWOS defender Raymond Uchena is also training with Dynamos and looks set to secure a deal and galvanise a central defensive unit that also has seen the arrival of Clive Mandivei and which also has Donald Dzvinyai and Tendaishe Magwaza.
Chigowe maintained that every member of the training squad would have to fight for their places.
“Like everyone who is here, Chafa is fighting for a place in the team. Nothing is guaranteed as yet, but of course his experience would come in handy.
“We also have Raymond Uchena here, who is fighting for a place. They both could get that chance to wear the blue jersey,” said Chigowe.
“So those two and many others who are here are also working well to catch our eyes. As the technical team, we will sit down and make a decision.
“Our situation has been different from the rest of the other teams in the Premiership.
“Others got off to the pre-season preparations with most of their players from last season.
“But our case was different. We have had to be very meticulous in sifting through the lot to see who could fit into our team.
“We are now basically working on the combinations and seeing how best we can do with what we have.”
Chigowe took time to scoff at allegations that he is aiding some of the newly signed players to alter their birth documents.
“I believe maybe they (the accusers) have agendas and thrive on making news through denigrating and demonising individuals, especially when those individuals are not in their stable.
“With all due respect, I think it would be very stupid for any coach to try to alter the age of a player who would play in an open age competition.
“These players are coming from other teams with the same documentation. It’s not like it’s an overnight change if anything of that sort happened. I don’t think it will bother me much,” he said.
Online Reporter