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Lovemore Dube Senior Sports Editor—
HIGHLANDERS assistant coach Mark Mathe will be in charge of the team when they play host to Shabanie Mine in a Castle Lager Premiership match at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday. Club chairman Peter Dube confirmed that Kelvin Kaindu will leave for the UK on Friday via Zambia. Dube said this would be the second last visit by the coach as he is set to graduate in May.
Kaindu has been attending Uefa B coaching badge studies in the UK since last year.
“Kaindu will be leaving for his studies on Friday. After this trip he will have one final one which will be graduation.
“He is expected to present a paper on Tuesday and if all goes well he should be flying back to Africa on Wednesday. We expect that he will be in Bulawayo by Friday next week in time for our next game,” said Dube.
In his absence Mathe and Peter Nkomo will be in charge. Kaindu was away last week only joining the team last Friday ahead of the Saturday match against Chapungu. Highlanders drew 0-0 and will be hoping to stop Shabanie on their tracks following a 3-1 win over visiting Triangle on Sunday.
Mathe is no stranger to sitting on the bench and bellowing instructions from the touchline as he was in control when Highlanders beat FC Platinum 1-0 in a friendly match in February before following that up with a semi-final triumph over Harare City.
A former Chicken Inn and Highlanders junior coach who saw off the last half of 2013 at Zimbabwe Saints in the Zifa Southern Region, commands a lot of respect in soccer circles. He is believed to be a good reader of the game and a man who puts emphasis on discipline and tactical awareness.
Highlanders who surprised many by not fielding their off-season signings last Saturday, have a team any other coach would love to be in charge of.
Valentine Ndaba, Josta Ngodzo, Felix Chindungwe, Khumbulani Banda, Welcome Ndiweni, Kudakwashe Mahachi and Njabulo Nyoni joined the club in the off-season to bolster a team that needed renewal and strengthening after twice finishing tied on points with Dynamos at the apex of the Castle Lager standings only to lose the title on an inferior goal aggregate.
It is clear that most of the boys and their technical team have reached saturation point and the recent arrivals, most of whom came from smaller clubs, have everything to fight for to improve their profiles.
Those that were there from 2012 have to realise that the record on 23 unbeaten matches yielded absolutely nothing. It is now just history with fans eager to land their first league title since 2006.
Unless they rise above Methembe Ndlovu’s team of 2006, both the administration and its technical team of players and coaches would be a hopeless lot.
On Sunday, Highlanders come up against a Shabanie side that lost virtually the entire first team because of a callous financial situation at the club.
Coach John Phiri has come up with a bunch of average and small-name players eager to make a name for themselves and move elsewhere.
Kaindu’s coaching school commitments have of late drawn mixed feelings as some believe he has been away at a time when he was needed most. This has also affected his involvement in pre-season training and recruitment of players.
Despite the draw against Chapungu at the weekend, Highlanders remain among the title favourites.
They were found wanting in the Bob90 Cup final, CG Msipa Scholarship Fund and Independence Trophy semi-finals, events that have left questions hanging on the pedigree of the coaches and players on Highlanders’ books.
Meanwhile, Highlanders are still to receive their $25,000 Bob90 Super Cup prize money despite assurances from the organisers’ spokesperson Charles Mabika over the weeks.
“There has been a deposit of $5,000 into our account. We are yet to confirm its sources,” said Sibanda.
Highlanders are under pressure to pay the players their share of $12,500. The team has a contract which enables players to share 50 percent of the proceedings from tournaments with head coach guaranteed 10 percent as his incentive to excel.
Online Reporter