Can Mafu paint Yogi black?

28 Jun, 2015 - 00:06 0 Views
Can Mafu paint Yogi black? UNDER PRESSURE . . . Dynamos coach David “Yogi” Mandigora (right) and his assitant Tonderai Ndiraya have a herculian task when DeMbare face Highlanders at Rufaro Stadium this afternoon. (Picture by kudakwashe Hunda)

The Sunday Mail

UNDER PRESSURE . . . Dynamos coach David “Yogi” Mandigora (right) and his  assitant Tonderai Ndiraya have a herculian task when DeMbare face Highlanders at Rufaro Stadium this afternoon. (Picture by kudakwashe Hunda)

UNDER PRESSURE . . . Dynamos coach David “Yogi” Mandigora (right) and his assitant Tonderai Ndiraya have a herculian task when DeMbare face Highlanders at Rufaro Stadium this afternoon. (Picture by kudakwashe Hunda)

VICTORY for Highlanders will be worth much more than three points for their beleaguered coach Bongani Mafu.

Delivering the sweetest victory to the Bosso fans, who have been waiting for it for nine years, will see Mafu erasing all doubts the Bosso faithful have about him.

While victory at Rufaro will be a game changer for Mafu, a Dynamos victory will not do much to enhance David “Yogi” Mandigora’s reputation in the eyes of the DeMbare fans.

Beating Bosso is now being viewed as routine at the champions; another Dynamos win will be greeted as the continuation of normal service.

For Mandigora, success is not about ticking all the boxes because Kallisto Pasuwa ticked all but one before walking away with four league titles.

The only box Pasuwa didn’t tick is the caf Champions League.

Mandigora would know about doing that after leading Dynamos to the semi-finals of Africa’s blue riband competition in 2008.

Mandigora has the herculean task of trying to outdo Pasuwa.

Anything short will be viewed as failure.

Pasuwa had garnered 23 points by Week 13 last season, the same number of points Yogi has in the bag.

DeMbare scored 11 times and conceded six in 13 matches under Pasuwa, the same number of goals Mandigora’s charges have managed.

However, Yogi’s defence has conceded a goal more.

The defending champions were second on the log going into round 14 of the 2014 season, a point behind Highlanders while Mandigora’s team are third.

Already, the veteran coach has missed the mid-season 30 point target and club president, Keni Mubaiwa, once again finds himself having to field a question he fielded every year that Pasuwa was on that punishing gaffer’s sit.

It’s a hot one that one.

How do you put your bum on the bench when the majority of fans in the stadia are convinced the team in blue, and sometimes white, is good enough to beat anyone, anywhere?

Never mind the opposition, this is DeMbare, it has to win, the Glamour Boys fans believe.

They will come to Rufaro in that mood this afternoon.

However, if they are honest they would be the first to admit the game has changed.

Dynamos are no longer a feared irresistible force.

This season, it’s Chicken Inn who are going about it in a way DeMbare almost patented at their peak.

The reasons for DeMbare’s lustre lose are as varied as the team’s mythical seven million fans.

Mandingora has been speaking a lot about character this term but this has been in instances when his team would have come from behind to snatch a draw.

They did it against ZPC Kariba and Triangle.

What they haven’t done is pull a win from an impossible situation and they don’t look like they have the arsenal to do so.

If you do a job on Ronald Chitiyo you have shut out Dynamos, several teams have proven this season.

The champions also look bereft of a natural leader, a player who gets others to dig in with his body language and straight talk.

When Memory Mucherahohwa was about to call it a day he is said to have anointed Murape Murape.

When his time came to wear the armband Murape led with his soul.

Now King Mura is gone and Augustine Mbara is the Dynamos captain.

He is turning into a fine centre half after being shunted from left back but you rarely see him exploding on teammates or taking matters into his own hands when the going gets tough.

However, at the end of it all the buck stops with Mandigora.

He is employed to get Dynamos winning, he gets paid for it and the club’s fans expect him to earn his pay cheque.

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