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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya survived another day of scrutiny but his opposite number in Sunday’s game Johanisi Nhumwa was not so fortunate after the Manica Diamonds executive yesterday decided to pull the trigger following a run of poor results.
Nhumwa has been living on borrowed time ever since results began evading the Mutare side in the second half of the season.
Ndiraya had also come under fire from the Glamour Boys’ fans, who recently were calling for his head after the Glamour Boys faltered in this year’s title race. But the Dynamos executive committee have thrown their weight behind their coach.
Ironically, it was Ndiraya who delivered the final knock-out blow on Nhumwa after he led the Harare giants to a 1-0 win over the Gem Boys at Sakubva on Sunday.
This was Manica Diamonds’ fourth defeat on the trot and the leadership at the club decided they had seen enough following a run of poor results in the second half of the campaign.
The Gem Boys executive yesterday announced they reached the decision to part ways with Nhumwa and his entire technical team, that included assistant coach Christopher Mwanza and goalkeepers coach Peter Masibera, by mutual consent.
“Manica Diamonds Football Club would like to inform all its stakeholders that the club has parted ways with head coach Johanisi Nhumwa and his technical team by mutual consent,” said the club in a statement.
“We sincerely appreciate the services rendered by the technical team to the club and we wish them well in their future endeavours.”
Manica Diamonds, who started the season on a high, have since dropped to 10th place following a poor second half of the season.
The club has roped in a new technical team headed by Jairos Tapera, who crossed the floor from Triangle, with just five games remaining in the season.
Tapera will be assisted by the trio of former Young Warriors coach Tafadzwa Mashiri, Patrick Mandizha and Thembinkosi Sibanda. Ticharambana Zikai survived the purge and will retain his post as team manager.
A source close to the Manica Diamonds leadership yesterday said Nhumwa’s job has been on the line for some time. The coach had also lost the hearts of the club’s supporters who on Sunday were agitating for his sacking and threatening violence on him before they were restrained by the security personnel.
“Part of the reasons Nhumwa was fired was because he was arrogant and would disregard the recommendations made to him by the team’s management,” said the source.
“You can imagine that he refused to sign players like William Manondo and Emmanuel Paga early this year when the players were presented to him. But now his excuse was that he did not have fire power.
“The team has not been scoring and the executive was not happy especially when they look at how Manondo and Paga have performed at their new teams. These guys have scored 24 goals between them while goals have dried down at Manica Diamonds,” said the source.
Manica Diamonds had a promising start to the season and would remain in the top four for most of the first half. Their chief marksman Nyasha Chintuli started the season scoring like he was on steroids and ran neck and neck with the current top goal scorer William Manondo.
The CAPS United man is now on 15 goals while Chintuli, who scored his first four goals while still at Ngezi Platinum Stars, has been stagnant on his total tally of nine.
He has not scored in the last 20 games for his team over a period spanning almost six months.
Online Reporter