Online Reporter
Stanford Chiwanga [email protected]
HIGHLANDERS’ fans have spent much of this season watching their team create chances with all the enthusiasm of a wedding planner, only to finish them with the accuracy of someone throwing a stone at a mango tree in a storm.
The good news? Help could be on the way.
Reports suggest Bosso are closing in on loan deals for Mafious Chihweta and Tymon Machope from Scottland until the end of the season. To make the parcel even bigger, midfielder Emmanuel Saidi could also be included.
If the reports are true, Highlanders may have found a solution to a problem that has been giving their supporters more headaches than kombis with faulty brakes.
The return of Chihweta will certainly get tongues wagging around Bulawayo.
Before his move to Scottland, Chihweta was one of the crowd favourites at Barbourfields. He was the sort of player who could get supporters off their seats with a clever pass, a burst of pace or a timely goal. Bosso fans loved him and he loved the spotlight.
His move to Scottland was supposed to be the next big chapter in his career.
Instead, it became one of those stories football supporters know all too well.
The grass may have been greener in Harare, but the game time certainly wasn’t.
Opportunities were limited, consistency proved elusive and before long, many Bosso supporters were saying the same thing: “Our boy must come back home.”
Well, he just might.
And if Chihweta does return to Barbourfields Stadium, expect fans to welcome him like a long-lost relative who has finally found his way back after getting lost on a trip to South Africa.
Then there is Machope.
Unlike Chihweta, he was not spending much time admiring the view from the bench at Scottland.
Machope was one of the club’s trusted gunslingers, the man often called upon when goals were needed. While others were busy discussing tactics and formations, Machope’s job was simple — put the ball in the net and ask questions later.
Which is precisely why Highlanders supporters are probably more excited about his arrival than a child who has just discovered there is no school tomorrow.
Let’s be honest.
Goals and Highlanders have not always been the closest of friends this season.
At times Bosso have approached the opposition box with confidence, style and purpose, only to suddenly forget what happens next.
The final touch has often been missing. The final pass has sometimes gone wandering. And occasionally the finish has looked like it needed directions from Google Maps.
That is where Machope comes in. A striker’s value is not measured by how many stepovers he performs or how fashionable his boots are. It comes down to one thing: can he score?
Machope has shown enough in local football to suggest he can.
Pair him with a returning Chihweta supplying ammunition from midfield and Highlanders suddenly begin to look a lot more dangerous going forward.
And then there is Saidi.
If he joins too, Bosso could end up with creativity, energy and goals from a single deal. That would be the football equivalent of ordering a braai meal and discovering the salads and isitshwala are included at no extra cost.
Of course, experienced supporters know better than to celebrate before the paperwork is signed. Zimbabwean football transfers have a habit of moving faster than lightning one day and disappearing into thin air the next.
Until the club makes an official announcement, cautious optimism remains the order of the day.
Still, if these deals are completed, Highlanders will not merely be adding numbers to the squad. They will be bringing back a player who already knows what it means to wear black and white, signing a proven goal scorer and possibly strengthening the midfield in the process.
For a team chasing more firepower in the second half of the season, that sounds like very good business.
And who knows?
If Machope starts scoring and Chihweta starts pulling the strings again, Bosso supporters may finally be able to stop asking where the goals are coming from.
Well, at least until the next match. After all, football fans are never completely satisfied.
l Excerpts from the article were taken from Makomborero Mutimukulu’s Facebook blog.
