adminBlessing Malinganiza
FC Platinum coach, Norman Mapeza, says his new signings will bring in a new dimension to the club.
The Zvishavane side has so far added Misheck Ngwenya, Jarrison Selemani and the returning Perfect Chikwende to the squad.
“The players have been fantastic; I’ve been following the guys since last season and I said if I’m going to bring in new players, they will be bringing in a new dimension to the squad.
“I brought in Ngwenya from Triangle and he plays left back, but can also play as a centre back. We brought in Selemani, who sometimes plays as a centre forward,and can play on the left or right wing.
“Chikwende was with us before and he is also someone with lots of experience and can give guidance to the youngsters. They need someone who can guide them and that’s the reason we brought him.”
Mapeza said he doesn’t think anybody will leave the club, but they are looking at adding either a centre back or midfielder.
He said he believes in youngsters and will be giving them more game time this season.
“I always want to give youngsters a chance. I’m not someone who is more worried about results.
“I just want to give youngsters a chance to play football because we also started from somewhere and needed that platform, so, that’s the main reason I give youngsters a chance.
“I think one of them deserved to be on the (Soccer Stars) calendar, but it was up to those who voted. I thought for someone like Thando (Ngwenya), if you really want to keep him going, those are the accolades he should be getting because I think he worked so hard for someone his age.
“But at the end of the day, I will keep giving the youngsters a chance. Some of them had cameo appearances last season and we will give them more game time this season,” he said. Pure Platinum Play are currently in camp in Bulawayo, and Mapeza said they chose the City of Kings because it’s like a second home to him.
“My grandmother used to stay here and I used to visit her as a young boy and I just fell in love with the city because it’s quiet. Whenever we come here, whether we are playing Highlanders or any other club in Bulawayo, the welcome has been massive.
“It’s always been massive here, people here love sports, especially football. We come here for the atmosphere. If we don’t go out of Zimbabwe it’s definitely here because if you look at other cities, it’s difficult because they don’t have training pitches.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter