Online Reporter
. . . 5 wins in a row for DeMbare will equal 2021/22 record
. . . 5 wins in a row for Kaindu will be first in PSL since 2012
Mugove Chigada
Deputy Sports Editor
DYNAMOS are on the brink of equalling the 2021/22 season record of five wins in a row if they can keep the momentum and win their next challenge against Triangle.
For Kelvin Kaindu, such a milestone will become his first while coaching a Zimbabwean club since arriving in Zimbabwe 2012.
Hopes for such milestones are, however, pinned on a group of players showing unrelenting hunger, fans in final push mode and Denver Mukamba.
Yes, Denver.
While focus has been on the bigger picture, the relegation fight, it has been difficult to ignore what true blue blood looks like – the captain hiding in plain sight.
“There is little or nothing to coach Denver,” Kaindu reveals in an exclusive interview with Zimpapers Sports Hub, adding the Dynamos family must, however, do more to achieve set goals.
Kaindu is a coach who gives careful thought to his utterances. You will find him shrewd, positive minded, aggressive in his own way and at best, a back bencher that pays attention to detail.
“In the last game I think he (Denver) touched the ball two or maybe three times… one was a clear pass to the striker and the other one a volley for the goal. I wish I had coached him earlier,” says Kaindu.
So far, both parties have been at peace with the role of impact player. That, for Kaindu, is not to belittle him or his abilities. There is an unwritten agreement to that effect. “I have been telling him to mentor Vusa (Ngenya) instead,” adds Kaindu.
The Denver story is just a fraction of the burden that Kaindu carries. Their win over Scottland at Rufaro on Saturday became the fourth consecutive win, the first time the Premiership giants have done so since the 2021/22 season.
That season, they dismissed Bulawayo Chiefs 2-0 away in round six, got the better of Tenax 3-1, floored ZPC Kariba 2-0, beat Harare City 2-0 and then edged Black Rhinos 2-1 in round 10.
That four of those five teams have since been relegated, shows how mediocrity had crept into DeMbare for long, making such a routine winning run alien to the club.
But in one of their most difficult seasons, when they are facing relegation and all glamour gone, they have found their footing again to set new bench marks.
In the last four league games they have claimed the scalps of MWOS (1-0), Kwekwe United (0-3), Green Fuel (2-0) and Saturday’s massive 3-2 win over Scottland at Rufaro.
“Not really,” Kaindu says when asked if Dynamos are back to their very best. “We have a lot of work to do as a team, and wouldn’t want to focus on that because we need more games to survive.”
It was only ironic that they recorded their fourth win against Tonderai Ndiraya, the same coach that gave them that last proud moment, back in 2022 when he won five matches in a row.
“We meet to part, and I think at this moment it’s time that we part ways. But I appreciate all the support that I had throughout my tenure,” Ndiraya was quoted as saying back then after leaving the club at the end of that season.
Dynamos then had the luxury of dismissing such title winning coaches in the blink of an eye. For the record, since those parting words by Ndiraya in December 22, before Saturday Dynamos had played 118 league matches without managing to win four consecutive games.
In those 10 620 minutes of action, they have had good coaches and bad ones too.
If they go a step further in the next game, the milestone will however be a bittersweet moment. And it will likely pass unnoticed, with focus on the ultimate goal – a clear reminder of how the wheels are coming off under Bernard Marriot watch.
Many will look back and realise the departure of good coaches, along with executives such as Isaiah Mupfurutsa and Vincent Chawonza, left DeMbare poorer and in complete meltdown.
The current good run can be attributed to the ‘Vietnam’, players fighting with all they have and a good man on the technical bench.
If Kaindu can go on to inspire his team to a fifth consecutive win, that will be the first time he has achieved that with a local club.
Previously, he only managed four with How Mine in 2017 and another such run, twice, with Highlanders in the 2012 season. At How Mine he managed it against Chapungu (2-1), Dynamos (1-0), Bantu Rovers (1-0) and Chicken Inn (1-0). Earlier, In 2012, his first season at Highlanders, he managed it from round six to nine and then from round 27 to 30.
“Winning with Dynamos comes with a lot of excitement because of the position we are on the log,” says Kaindu. “No team yet has been confirmed as relegated yet. All teams apart from Dynamos from position 11 struggled to pick maximum points.”
As Dynamos and their coach seek to make crucial milestones, it is agreed there is only one player who is a keeper of their memories.
Back in 2011, under Kalisto Pasuwa, Dynamos’ five wins in a row from round 20 against Shooting Stars (1-4), Shabanie Mine (2-0), Gunners (1-3), Zimbabwe Saints (4-0) and Monomotapa (2-0) ensured they won the first of their four consecutive titles.
Exactly 15 years later, Denver, the boy who learned to survive with blue blood, scorer of the winning goal against Scottland, and the first of his name at Dynamos, is the remaining member of that team with that oldest script.
“He is the commander,” Kaindu concludes.
