admin
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS’ technical team has admitted that the first team players’ strike will have adverse effects on their season after losing three out of five weeks of pre-season training.
Bosso players embarked on two strikes since pre-season training started.
The first was in their first week of a pre-season physical camp on February 4 in Matobo.
They embarked on the second industrial action on February 26, demanding their January and February salaries.
The players declared that they would only return to camp once their salaries have been paid and as such, they missed two consecutive weeks of training.
The latest strike forced the club to turn to its developmental side Bosso 90 and a couple of senior team players for their first competitive friendly of the season in which they were thumped 4-0 by Chicken Inn on Sunday.
Highlanders’ assistant coach, Bekithemba Ndlovu, told journalists after the defeat that time was running out for them, noting that the strike was affecting the whole Bosso system.
“Most of the players are not with the team because of other things which I won’t talk about, but I think they are affecting everyone. It’s not the technical team alone that is affected, but the team as a whole. Even the players; I think they are losing out a lot from what is happening now. From my experience, what I know is that games will be played and when this is over, then next week they say we play I’m not sure if we will be ready to play. The league will start and we will have to do with what we have,” said Ndlovu.
“I hope that the players will iron out their grievances soon with management and return in time for the season because time is not on our side. We’ve lost a good amount of preparation time. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So, we need to prepare soonest,” he said.
“Fitness is a process; it’s not something that you get within a week or two. Pre-season is about six to eight weeks. You need all those weeks to say my players are fit.”
Highlanders are supposed to be in their sixth pre-season week and have only managed to train for two weeks. With their programme disturbed by the industrial action, it will be a tough ride for head coach Madinda Ndlovu’s boys to load up and play the way he wants.
Bosso will have no respite in their opening five games in which they will play one game in Harare and another in Bindura.
Bosso, who finished fifth in 2018, start their campaign away to Black Rhinos in Harare.
The army side beat Highlanders 1-0 in their last meeting in the capital. After that Harare trip, Highlanders will play host to a blockbuster against Caps United at Barbourfields Stadium.
Last season Bosso and Caps United played two goalless draws in Bulawayo and Harare.
On Matchday Three, Highlanders travel back to the capital to face Harare City, a side that they beat 2-1 in Harare last season.
Bosso will play host to Triangle United on Matchday Four before travelling to Bindura for a date with league debutantes, Mushowani Stars.
It is unlikely that Bosso players will be in good shape when the season starts after losing much of the pre-season to the boycott.
The domestic season kicks off on March 30.
— @ZililoR.
Online Reporter