adminDon Makanyanga
Sports Reporter
HAVING gone on a four-game win-ess streak, last season Castle Lager Premier Soccer League runners-up, Manica Diamonds, are hoping for a change of fortunes after undertaking some “corrective measures” during the past week.
Following their defeat on Monday against champions Ngezi Platinum Stars, the team had self-introspection on their performance.
The club’s chairman, Masimba Chihowa, revealed that the team had embarked on a soul-searching mission this past week and are confident of returning to winning ways.
“It has been really unfortunate that we have had a dry spell which we never anticipated as a team going into the 2024 season.
“We have since taken a lot of corrective measures to make sure that the results are positive, something that we have always looked forward to.
“We hope that we will win as many games as possible so that we can attain the same seat that we attained last season or even better,” said the Manica Diamonds chairman.
Amid speculation of an ultimatum for their head coach, Chihowa played down the issue, stating that the club was fully behind the seasoned coach.
“It is not true that Tapera has been given an ultimatum.
“We have a long project with him (Tapera) which we think he is executing well and we cannot simply judge him on this dry spell that we have had as a club.
“We are expecting a lot of changes within the shortest possible time hence we are fully behind him as he takes a few corrective measures and once he has taken corrective measures for the few mistakes that the team has made we expect very good results,” said Chihowa.
With speculation on his job, Tapera admits that failing to get a win in the opening four matches of the season was worrying for his charges.
“It’s worrying for the technical team, for the players, and even the supporters but we as a team are working very hard to reverse the current situation and I am confident that we are very near to turning the corner,” said Tapera.
Having conceded seven goals in four matches which saw his side conceding six goals in their first two matches of the season, Tapera feels that the defence has been the weakest link so far, but is happy with the progress it has made.
“As the head coach l am very worried about the way we have been conceding especially in our first two games but we have been working very hard on that area and what we now need is to improve on our confidence,”
Tapera is hoping to turn the corner when they host Chicken Inn at Sakubva Stadium. “We are looking for our first win of the season come Sunday.
“We are very hopeful, we are confident some good things will happen, and having finished second last season was an achievement that we achieved over a full year of performance and we hope to start getting results if we are to do the same,” said Tapera.
Chicken Inn who are yet to taste defeat this season after accumulating six points in four matches, with three draws and one win.
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas is wary of the threat posed by Manica Diamonds as they seek to maintain their unbeaten run.
“A difficult game against a strong Manica Diamonds side.
“Playing at Sakubva is not easy so we have to go there focused and play well to get a positive result “They are wounded so we have our work cut out,” said Antipas.
Online Reporter