daniel chigunwe
Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
NGEZI Platinum Stars coach Benjani Mwaruwari has been given not only some breathing space but the liberty to continue with his trial and error mission after the Mhondoro club’s executive reaffirmed their support for the former Warriors skipper.
The ex-Manchester City forward is in his first professional coaching job at the platinum miners where he replaced veteran gaffer Rodwell Dhlakama in March this year.
But, the team, which have always been one of the best performers in the league since their promotion in 2016, have sharply paled under his tutelage.
Mwaruwari has presided over 11 games, won three and lost as many with the rest ending in stalemates.
The team has picked 14 points under his watch out of a possible 33 and scored eight goals while conceding five.
That record is in sharp contrast to the club’s showing before he took over the reins.
Mwaruwari adopted the team when they had played nine games from which they had recorded four victories, three draws and two defeats garnering 15 points in the process while scoring 13 and breached just five times.
Upon his arrival, the soft-spoken gaffer made significant changes to the team, bringing in young players from the team’s development side and the club is looking more and more oriented to junior policy.
But, results have been hard to produce with experts now questioning the pedigree of Mwaruwari to coach at the highest level.
But, the Ngezi Platinum Stars, whose choice for Mwaruwari as the coach for the ambitious team was as shocking as it was refreshing, have firmly stood by their gaffer.
Club spokesperson, Roberta Katunga, told The Herald the executive believes Mwaruwari is the right man for the job.
“When the club engaged coach Benjani (Mwaruwari), we were aware that this is his first coaching job and that this season will involve a lot of learning and jelling of the team to develop a winning side,” said Katunga.
“While the current results are not pleasing, we appreciate that this is a learning curve for everyone involved and we are confident that there will be an improvement going forward.
“The (recruitment of youngsters by the coach) is in line with the club’s policy on Junior Football Development, which seeks to develop a seamless pipeline of skills, as well as establishing Ngezi Platinum Stars Academy.
‘’The promotion of junior players from the Ngezi Platinum U-19 team excites everyone at Ngezi Platinum and is a step in the right direction. The club is fully behind the head coach in fielding junior players and promoting their growth into the senior team. The board ensures that there is always a strategic fit between the head coach and the club’s interests.
“We do believe that coach Benjani is the right man to guide Ngezi Platinum Stars to achieve our strategic objectives. We are however acutely aware that this is a process which may take some time.”
Mwaruwari’s charges are at home against CAPS United in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at Baobab tomorrow and Mwaruwari will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways after picking a single point in the last two games.
Online Reporter