adminIT’S not easy for a man to accept that he was wrong, but there are times when one has to eat humble pie and say, “I was wrong.” With five games to go and Dynamos leading the log by two points, never in my imagination did I expect them to slip up and literally hand the title to ZPC Kariba.
This is the season that I thought Callisto Pasuwa would make history and become the first coach in Zimbabwe to win the league title four times on the trot. This feat would have made him Coach of the Decade with six more years to go.
Unfortunately, that feat now seems remote, if not impossible. This year’s league title is now for ZPC Kariba to lose. And, with the crop of players ZPC have, it is unlikely that they will let it slip away the way our Glamour Boys did.
The way DeMbare let it slip reminded me of an article I wrote earlier about players who come to Dynamos and feel they have “arrived.”
I wrote about Cliff Sekete then, whom I felt was not doing enough to prove his worth.
Interestingly, in a couple of matches after that article, Sekete played some of his best football in Dynamos colours.
Now, I realise he was not the only one who felt he had “arrived.”
I know most people will point at the coach for this failure, and rightly so, because in the latest game against ZPC, Pasuwa was outwitted by Saul Chaminuka.
However, I feel the current crop that we have at Dynamos leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s not that they are not good players, but their attitude stinks.
More than half of the players feel they have “arrived.” There is a group that doesn’t deserve to be at Dynamos at all. This group includes Oscar Machapa, Sydney Linyama, Walter Mukanga, Russell Madamombe, Roderick Mutuma, Farai Mupasiri, Patrick Khumbula and Fabrice Mbimba.
I believe these players haven’t been pulling their weight to deserve a place at Dynamos. It’s not that they are not good players, but their attitude has been wrong to justify their presence at the biggest team in the country.
They simply forgot why they were hired at Dynamos in the first place, and that is to play football.
One would think Machapa and Mutuma would like a quick return to the riches of South African football, but their attitude leaves a lot to be desired.
A player of Oscar’s calibre should be playing week in, week out, but you find him, most of the time, either warming the bench or sitting in the terraces. And he seems unperturbed.
When Mutuma was offloaded by Celtic, everyone at Dynamos thought all their striking problems had been solved. We all remembered Mutuma of the past not knowing that his regrettable stay in South Africa had made him big-headed.
What we saw was a different Mutuma. If he is not shouting and gesturing at referees, he is fighting other players from either his team or opposition. His misses in the last four matches have been the main reason Dynamos are not going to be crowned champions this season.
In the latest match against ZPC, everyone queried Pasuwa’s decision to leave him out of the starting line-up, preferring Anesu Gondo.
Gondo justified his inclusion, but, as fate would have it, he didn’t last longer than his goal. And his replacement, Mutuma, showed us why Pasuwa had benched him and, most importantly, why he should be the first player to be shown the exit door.
This ‘Prince’ has lost his ways.
He carries himself as if he is Mr Dynamos even the ‘majestic doc’ Tauya Murewa wouldn’t come close regardless of the sea of difference in talent and skill, let alone intelligence.
Mukanga, Madamombe and Linyama are players who are talented, but felt they had made it when they came to Dynamos. They do not justify their continued stay at Dynamos.
If you play in less than 10 games at Dynamos, when you were the kingpin at your previous club, you simply don’t deserve a place at the club. It is just too big for you and the exit door is for you. Sekete would have fitted in this group, but he deserves another chance after putting in some good shows of late.
Mupasiri showed so much promise, especially in the 2012 season, but in the past two seasons he has proved that he needs to be ‘babied’ so much.
Unfortunately, football is a men’s game and there is no place for cry-babies, especially at a big institution like Dynamos.
Khumbula and Mbimba just do not make the cut at Dynamos and they should just leave and create space for players of Dynamos’ pedigree.
Then we have a group that needs to be given another chance to justify their continued existence at the club.
These are Simba Sithole, Thomas Magorimbo, Cliff Sekete, Tafadzwa Rusike, Tichaona Mabvura and Artwell Mukandi. These guys have been blowing hot and cold. They are talented players, but you feel Dynamos haven’t been getting their best. Rusike hasn’t been the same player since leaving CAPS for South Africa some years back.
He is no longer a game-changer.
Maybe it’s because of years of bench-warming at Ajax Cape Town that took a toll on him.
Then there is a group that can hide behind injuries, youth and advanced age. This group includes Tawanda Muparati, Devon Chafa, Masimba Mambare, Tatenda Makuruva, Bret Amidu, Carlos Messi and Murape Murape. There are games that Dynamos have shown lack of leadership on the pitch. These are games they missed Murape, Muparati and Chafa the most.
And in these instances you would wonder why Desmond Maringwa was thrown to the bins if DeMbare doesn’t have a midfielder who can control the tempo of the game, especially after taking the lead.
Then we have a group who gave their all whenever they donned the blue-and-white jersey. This group includes the likes of Washington Pakamisa, Ronald Chitiyo, Stephen Alimenda, Augustine Mbara, Themba Ndlovu and Ocean Mushure.
Interestingly, these are not your vastly-gifted players, save for Chitiyo and Mushure, but they gave their all for the team’s cause. Unfortunately, they do not even make a quarter of the team and the load proved too much for them in the end. Somehow, I feel DeMbare would have won on Sunday if Pakamisa had played. Dynamos need a revamp of their playing personnel.
Only players who are prepared to fight for Dynamos should be kept.
The technical team also showed some deficiencies. In a season where one felt they would win it by a wide margin, they are now likely to lose it by two points to ZPC. Surely, Pasuwa needs to sort out either himself or the team that gives him assistance.
Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker, former Premiership footballer, Herald columnist and Dynamos fan and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email – [email protected]
Online Reporter