Ndiraya backs rebuilt Chicken Inn to come good

Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
CHICKEN Inn coach Tonderayi Ndiraya believes his team will come good and eventually challenge competitively, insisting that sweeping changes to both the technical team and playing staff were necessary to inject fresh energy into a side that narrowly escaped relegation last season.

He said the struggles experienced so far were expected, given the many dynamics associated with rebuilding a team.

“When I came in with my backroom staff in fact there were almost wholesome changes to the playing staff and we went on what I may say was a restructuring exercise. Obviously due to what was happening the previous season when the club was fighting relegation and naturally, a big club as I want to call Chicken Inn because they won the League title in 2015, big clubs go through that rough patch.

“Naturally something had to be done and indeed something was done, I came through and of course quite a number of players came through as well. When all those people are put together it means that it’s a new team, not entirely a new team but I think 90 percent of the playing and technical staff were new so naturally when that happens it’s a fresh beginning for the squad,” said Ndiraya, whose team beat Triangle 2-0 away in the Eastern Lowveld last Sunday.

Hopes are high that the victory could prove to be a turning point, with positive results expected to continue, starting with Saturday’s match against title-chasing Hardrock.
Ndiraya said building a new team requires patience as players and staff learn to understand one another and adapt to a common system.

“When you have a fresh beginning it means it takes a bit of time for the team to really get together and understand each other and everyone in the system literally has to start to understand. So the whole system had to really get together quickly and quickly organise ourselves for the start of the season. We had a good pre-season I must say, but having a good pre-season is not good enough, you need some time for people to really get together and start moving in one direction,” said Ndiraya.

Ndiraya had anticipated that the squad would begin to gel by around the 10th match of the season. His expectation was that players would develop a shared understanding and execute their responsibilities in a uniform manner.

He said several factors had contributed to the team’s challenges. Blending new and existing players, while integrating individuals from different backgrounds, created dynamics that required careful management. At the same time, some players became frustrated by limited game time, while injuries further complicated matters.

“So many dynamics in the team, football dynamics for that matter we had new and old players. Naturally when you don’t get to play you start to get worried. For both sets of players so that brought some bit of anxiety and divisions in the team which is very natural and normal.

“The team that we had in the first five games suddenly changed into a new team because of all the things I spoke about, all this was caused by changes that were done to the whole system so it was completely a new team. Then we got caught up in that rough patch that coupled with injuries in the team coupled by some players not being happy because of not getting enough game time which is very natural that then got us into that period of a bad patch of course,” said the former DeMbare attacking midfielder.

He said management and the technical team worked closely together to identify solutions to the problems facing the squad.
Those solutions largely centred on engaging the players and addressing concerns within the camp.

“After the losing streak we then started to see some improvements particularly after the ZPC Kariba match, we started to see some improvements in the team. We then went on a drawing streak, I think it was a three-game drawing streak but what was encouraging in those games was the spirit that was getting into the team,” he said.
He said the camaraderie among the players and their willingness to fight for the badge had become increasingly evident in recent matches.

Ndiraya added that, from an objective standpoint, building a title-winning team would require patience and continuity. He believes the club would need approximately six transfer windows working with the core of the current squad before it can realistically challenge for the championship.

He also conceded that competing with and consistently overcoming better-resourced teams remains a difficult task.