MURAPE ISN’T A SUPER SAINT

Bothwell Mahlengwe
LAST Sunday was an important day for football lovers, especially those in Harare. In the afternoon, we had the Harare Derby and, in the evening, we had the 2014 World Cup final.
This was a real football extravaganza.

The Harare Derby, after a long time of lifeless displays, showed some signs that there are still flashes of life in it.

Fans came in their numbers and CAPS United directors were smiling all their way to the bank with reasonably significant income that should help a team that has been stalked by financial woes.

One thing I have come to appreciate about Twine Phiri is that he does what’s necessary at any particular moment.

And after months of toiling alone in the financial wilderness, trying to make ends meet for his beloved CAPS, some sense knocked on his mental door and, with the humility of a true leader, realised he cannot do it alone.

CAPS United ‘won’ the Harare Derby on many fronts.

They were the better side in this drawn encounter. Their display on the field was more polished than that of Dynamos. They score their first goal after a long spell.

The rich pickings from the gate takings meant a huge relief from the financial woes that had hounded them for the better part of the season.

Then, there was the presence of the players’ favourite director Farai Jere.

Welcome back Farai, football needs you (you need it as well), especially your adopted “son” CAPS United.

I am sure whatever differences you had with Twine can be solved amicably so that you can work together for the betterment of CAPS, in particular, and football in general.

Dynamos need more challengers, Highlanders cannot do it alone.

And surely, CAPS need a better uniform brand. Roar leaves a lot to be desired.

After such a weekend of bumper football, I expected action from the field of play to take more prominence and space in the newspapers this week. I expected in-depth analysis of the game to take much space in the media. But to my surprise what took prominence were issues I would consider trivial.

Of concern was the prominence given to the referee, Darlington Shonhiwa, accused of verbally abusing Dynamos players, especially their captain Murape Murape.

As a former Premier League player myself, I felt this issue isn’t anything new in any emotionally-charged football game.

I am not saying it’s right for anyone to utter obscenities on the field of play. What I am saying is these are some of the most trivial things that are forgotten as soon as players leave the field.

It reminded me of the verse in the Bible, John 8 v 7, where Jesus Christ declared that, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

I am sure even Murape would not have been able to throw the first stone at Shonhiwa.

What really shocked me was that the Dynamos leadership entertained such a petty issue and allowed their captain to take the matter to the police. They then went on and reported it to PSL. How do you prove such a case? How can Murape say Dynamos players were abused for the whole 90 minutes when he was substituted well before the 90th minute?

We haven’t heard any other player who came forward to second Murape’s allegations.

Isn’t it a case of tasting your own medicine? How many teams complain that referees are biased towards Dynamos?

I feel Dynamos have more pertinent issues to take care of. Their leadership should know better. They can’t use such a trivial issue to distract us from the real challenges that are besieging the club.

We are not that naïve.

Sunday’s display showed us that the technical team has a lot to work on before the next Harare Derbies coming in the following two weeks.

But what’s worrying are the seemingly perennial challenges that we keep on hearing from the Dynamos camp. We cannot continue to hear that a team of Dynamos’

magnitude is failing to handle players’ contracts and payments thereafter.

At the beginning of the season, Dynamos lost Gift Belo to FC Platinum because of late contract renewal issue.

Now, we are told that there are more who can walk away. Rodreck Mutuma’s issue is said to have been saved by the intervention of Pasuwa. Augustine Mbara is out of contract and management are dilly-dallying.

Devon Chafa is regretting not taking the US$20,000.00 FC Platinum offer because he hasn’t been paid his dues and Partson Jaure will walk away for free, to join a team of his choice, next January.

Are these the sort of issues that we should keep hearing from Dynamos — the face of Zimbabwean club football?

No. A big NO!
This shows we have leadership dearth at Dynamos. I used to think it was at Executive level but now I think it’s above that. The board needs to pull up their socks.

Yes, we know they are the founding fathers of the team but they can’t keep running down the team like this. As they say, “a fish rots from the head.”

Everything starts and ends with them. They can’t blame the Executive anymore. They are the ones who chose them in the first place. They are the ones who gave them the mandate to run the team. They are the ones who penned their terms of contracts and job descriptions.

They are the ones who agreed on the Executive’s targets. They are the ones who conduct appraisals for the Executive. That is if we ever have such things in place in the first place.

These are the people who are letting Dynamos down. Dynamos’ continued challenges are a reflection of the weaknesses of the Board.

It’s time the Board get their act together otherwise our beloved Dynamos is headed for doom.

My advice to the Board is to get a very competent advisory team that gives them directions, especially on HR issues.

Dynamos is a big brand and should not have the same problems year in-year out. Something or someone has to change.

Not all battles are worth wasting your energy on. Focus on those that help you attain your goals.