admin
Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
DYNAMOS coach Callisto Pasuwa was left a hugely disappointed man yesterday after he learnt that star defender Gift Bello had dumped the Premiership champions to join rivals FC Platinum.
Despite spirited denials by the Dynamos management last week that the defender was leaving – Bello – a 2013 Castle Soccer Star of the Year finalist has shifted base and is now in Zvishavane where he is expected to begin training with the platinum miners today.
It will be the defender’s third reunion with coach Lloyd Mutasa who was his mentor at Kiglon and before luring him to DeMbare.
All had seemed in order when Bello was registered with the Confederation of African Football on Dynamos’ 25-member squad list for the Champions League.
Although Bello who had struck a formidable partnership with Warriors skipper Partson Jaure in the heart of the DeMbare defence, he had threatened to walk away from Dynamos if contract talks with the club broke down.
Pasuwa who is with the national team in South Africa had remained hopeful a breakthrough would be found.
But Pasuwa, speaking from Cape Town yesterday, said he had been saddened to note that the contract talks between the club and the player had failed to bear fruits, leading to the player’s departure on the eve of the start of their Champions League campaign.
The Glamour Boys will host Botswana champions Mochudu Centre Chiefs in a preliminary round, first leg tie at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday and Bello will now certainly not be part of their line-up.
Pasuwa was also not amused by the fact that Ugandan midfielder Boban Ziruntusa had remained holed up in Kampala and only arrived in Harare at the weekend, having missed much of the pre-season training.
During Pasuwa’s absence on CHAN duties with the Warriors, Dynamos were under the guidance of club vice-chairman and former coach David Mandigora as well as the backroom crew of his assistant Philemon Mu- tyakureva, goalkeepers’ coach Tichaona Diya and team manager Richard Chihoro.
Pasuwa said he was worried that Dynamos could lose more of the players they registered for the Champions League if they are not tied down to contracts.
Apart from Bello, Dynamos are also still to seal a fresh deal with defensive midfielder Devon Chafa, another prime target of the ambitious FC Platinum.
“I am not happy that we seem to be focusing more on the new players than those we have already and have proved to be important for us.
“It doesn’t mean that a new player will immediately make an impact because history has proved that even if a player is so good, some take time to settle at Dynamos maybe because of the pressure that comes with playing for this club. When you look at our record last season, there were times when we struggled to score but we did not lose matches because of a solid defence and Bello was the most consistent performer in that defence and we should not have been losing him at a time when we have already registered him for the Champions League.
“He (Bello) sent me a message to say he was not agreeing terms with the club management for a new contract after his contract expired on December 31 and
“I feel we need to be more professional and sort issues to do with contracts for those we are retaining well before the end of December.
“At this rate we could lose four or five players if we are not careful, you never know we could even lose Partson Jaure given his performance at the CHAN tournament but my point is we cannot always be rebuilding at the start of every year if we want to reach the Champions League finals or even the group stages,’’ Pasuwa said.
Pasuwa is expected back home tonight together with the Warriors entourage and the Dynamos coach will have an opportunity to assess first hand his squad tomorrow when they get into the final phase of their Champions League preparations.
But it is the uncertainty over the availability of some of his key players that is now worrying the coach more than the threat posed by their Botswana visitors. “Now I don’t know who else would have been gone by the time I return home. But we also have to understand that these players have a life to live so as much as I can persuade them to try and stay on, it is also difficult to keep holding onto them when they think they have found somewhere better but the trick is not to wait until the last minute to retain them.
“We should have done that long before’’.
Dynamos have also set their sights on securing unsettled Kaizer chiefs defender Lincoln Zvasiya on a short term loan deal but the former Aces Youth Academy player can only feature in the Champions League in August in the event that Dynamos would have made it to the group stages.
FC Platinum spokesperson Chido Chizondo while confirming that Bello was already in Zvishavane could not be drawn into revealing the nature of the deal the miners had offered to the defender. “We are still negotiating with Bello but nothing has been finalised and I can only advise of the final position on Tuesday (tomorrow),’’ Chizondo said.
But The Herald understands that Bello has been handed a two-year contract.
And with coach Lloyd Mutasa having made it clear that he wanted to boost FC Platinum’s depth before the 2014 season starts, luring an experienced centre back like Bello has been one of the former Dynamos and Kiglon gaffer’s priorities. Mutasa has already seen his selection options also boosted by the return to action from a long-term injury of left back Qadr Amini.
Amini who spent the whole of last season sidelined by injury returned to full training in time to join FC Platinum on their two week intensive camp in Kariba and has already featured in the club’s two pre-season friendly matches.
Online Reporter