adminTakudzwa Chitsiga
Sports Reporter
VETERAN coach Arthur ‘Tuts’ Tutani has joined Ruyamuro Northern Region Soccer League side Shamva Mine.
Tutani left the football community guessing last week after he unexpectedly tendered his resignation at Premier Soccer League side Simba Bhora.
Shamva Mine chairman Tanaka Wonenyika confirmed the appointment of Tutani as a replacement for Ralph Kawondera and said they believe the former Simba Bhora coach is the right candidate to achieve their targets because of his track record.
” I am pleased to announce that we have appointed Arthur Tutani as our head coach. The target this season is to help the team survive relegation and then build up for the title challenge next year. We really want to push our brand as Shamva Mine through football,” Wonenyika said.
“We enjoy good support from our sponsors Rene Mining & Industrial Supplies and Shamva Gold Mine, a member of Kuvimba Mining House.
“With such good sponsorship we should be fighting for the title and aim to be in the top flight league hence the decision to bring in Arthur Tutani, a serial title winner in the Northern Region Soccer League.”
Tutani has done well in the second-tier division where he has won three titles.
But this time his challenge is not to get the Premiership ticket. Rather, he has to save the team from the jaws of relegation as Shamva have struggled upon their return to Division One football.
The team was under the guidance of Kawondera, who ironically also took Simba Bhora from Division Two.
Tutani has a proven record and is one of the best Division One promotion architects, who has won a total five Northern Region Soccer League gold medals before.
He was at the helm when Mwana Africa, Sporting Lions and Simba Bhora won the second-tier title and was also crowned twice as assistant coach at Monomotapa and Black Rhinos.
“I’m not expecting a lot of big things at the moment, my main objective is to save the team from relegation.
“The team has campaigned in the relegation zone for the better part of the first half of the season and now we have to push up in the second half of the season.
“I’m going to use this period before the resumption of the league to make the players understand my philosophy. Then from next year, I will assemble a team that will be good enough to fight for the league title,” Tutani said.
He had been demoted to the position of assistant coach at Simba Bhora, despite leading the side to the topflight for the first time in history, as he did not possess the required CAF A licence.
Online Reporter