adminTHE Premier Soccer League has entered the “home stretch”, a stage where men are separated from boys, where wheat is supposedly separated from chaff.
With 21 games already played, anxiety abounds among the fans, players, coaches, et al. The league title is out there for grabs, and many will tell you that the onus, in this crucial stage, is on the executives and team owners to up their ante, and reward handsomely the goose that lays the golden egg, to avoid any distractions wont by poor remuneration. This is a stage where players should be kept happy so that they deliver the Holy Grail to their thousands of followers. After all they say “where there is money there is always a will.”
There has been another characteristic upheaval at DeMbare.
Their defeat to army side Black Rhinos last week in the Chibuku Cup was the inevitable consequence of the industrial action where players were demanding payment of their outstanding dues from the team management.
The Chibuku Cup was painful considering the Dynamos’ followers mantra that “pane mari DeMbare haidyiwe.’’ (Where there is money you can’t beat Dynamos).
Still smarting from their elimination from the Chibuku Cup, came the ignominy of drawing 1-1 with Hwange at home. Hwange equalised at the death of the game.
Dynamos went into the Hwange match ill-prepared as they were still dogged by an assortment of problems ranging from player mutiny to fistfights between captain Murape Murape and striker Roderick Mutuma.
However, the Harare giants, renowned for their never-say-die attributes, are at the apex of the log with 36 points from 20 matches, with Highlanders who laboured to beat “little’’ Triangle 1-0 in second place.
There were cheers from their detractors when their management decided to suspend both Murape and Mutuma, the duo that have been key to their recent successes including that 1-0 win over old nemesis Highlanders.
Will Dynamos rise from the ashes despite their recent problems? The answer is in the affirmative. Judging by their fighting spirit, and their last display against Hwange, where those who watched the match said they were barely recognisable as a team that had not been training, showing a lot of verve especially in the first half in which they dominated for longer periods.
The uneasiness at Highlanders, a team that appears to have shed their traditional composure and poise, touch-me-not type of football coupled with their lackadaisical approach, perhaps, it will be. Of course its early days to say they will need the grace of God, to prevail.
Bosso have dismally failed to make use of their customary vociferous backing at home, failed to rise to the occasion at BF in as many games and recently at Hartsfield, drawing matches they could have easily won, winning with low margins where they could have won by many.
Their deficiencies in defence have been exposed, the limitations in the vital midfield department are there for all to see, and their wastefulness in front of goal is legendary. However, a plus on their side is that there are still in it, and their trip to Zvishavane today where they meet FC Platinum, will be another telling point.
Then there is this collective belief at the green side of Harare that this is their year. This is the team that was once christened the Cup Kings of Zimbabwean football, until Kepekepe Bhora went into “hibernation”.
But a plus for them is that they appear to be picking up the pieces, after years of agony for their vegetable wielding followers. And since they last won the league title in 2005, it appears this is their year.
As for ZPC Kariba, did they flatter to deceive when going for 18 matches without a loss, and once they tasted defeat, they lost by not one or two, but three goals to Chapungu.
If there was a time when we thought there was a team that would challenge the hegemony of the big clubs insofar as the league title is concerned, it is/was ZPC Kariba.
But a lot will depend on how they pick themselves up. After all they have the same number of points with Highlanders, but lie third due to inferior goal aggregate. Who knows after 2 700 minutes of play they might join AmaZulu, Monomotapa, Motor Action, and Gunners, the other “unheralded’’ teams that have won the country’s coveted accolade.
Hwange and FC Platinum appear to be still in it although the former might be derailed by lack of consistency.
As for FC Platinum the arrival of Norman Mapeza appears to have rekindled their hopes for the elusive Premiership title they came close to bagging in 2011, to only finish second behind eventual winners Dynamos.
Who will then walk away with the bacon? Your guess is as good as ours!
The good news for Liverpool fans, Yours Truly included is that Mario Balotelli, our own equivalent of Roderick Mutuma, is on his way to Anfield. That he is capable of being one of the stars of the Premier League upon his return to England is no doubt. After all he has never bitten anyone on a football field like the one he is set to replace, Luis Suarez.
Of course we can recall that he has thrown darts at youth-team players, paid an impromptu visit to a women’s prison and gatecrashed an Inter Milan Press conference while a Manchester City player, but he has never mistaken an opponent for a piece of pizza.
His antics can be amusing and sometimes border on the stupidity, but he is not the second Suarez. That is both a compliment and a criticism. Balotelli’s many misdemeanours are not as serious as the former Liverpool striker’s crimes, but nor are his feats as great. Where Balotelli possesses potential in abundance, Suarez, in between the scandals, has realised his.
That is why Barcelona have paid over €90 million for the Uruguayan, whereas AC Milan are willing to sell Liverpool the Italian for less than a quarter of that price.
Balotelli has lasted one-and-a-half years in Italy. He was at Manchester City for two-and-a-half seasons before they got tired of waiting for him to mature. Many at the Etihad Stadium were relieved to see him go and City have shed their reputation as the Premier League’s “Fight Club” since Balotelli and his sparring partner and mentor, Roberto Mancini, took their leave.
But Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers, it seems, has decided to take a gamble, after second thoughts.
Balotelli presents a test of his (Rodgers) man-management and coaching skills. If the risks are high, the rewards could be colossal. Players such as Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling have improved exponentially under Rodgers’ tutelage. Balotelli may be more gifted than any. He has a blend of physical and technical ability that is almost unrivalled in the world game.
Many say the danger of bringing in Balotelli is that he destabilises the dressing room. Indeed, he already has. A month after his bathroom was damaged when the misguided decision to set off fireworks was made, he was sent off at Anfield. The door bore the brunt of his frustration, his removing it from its hinges in anger.
Despite all the disruption and chaos Balotelli can bring, though, he still has the capacity to be a match-winner at any level. And that’s exactly why Liverpool will sign him.
We can only hope! After all WE WILL NEVER WALK ALONE. Feedback to: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Whatsapp or Facebook.
Online Reporter