What appeared set to emerge as a year to remember for our beloved Warriors gaffer Rahman Gumbo is fast threatening to turn out as one to forget.

Gumbo’s elevation in February to the highest coaching post in the country on top of his envied position as mentor of the country’s richest football team FC Platinum had presented the gaffer a unique platform to score big on both the domestic and international scene in one fell swoop.

Of course, it has always been a Herculean task. Not since Charles Mhlauri claimed a rare double in 2005 —  that of steering CAPS United to the league title at the same time guiding the Warriors to the 2006 African Cup of Nations finals — has any local coach matched that feat.
A pity Rahman now knows that unless another Premiership team comes knocking on his door pretty soon, there is no more chance of emulating Mhlauri’s impeccable run. At least this year.

The ambitious Zvishavane-based side have cracked the whip on their highly prized mentor and handed the reins to his junior, a man that Gumbo himself moulded and later recruited to be his trusted lieutenant.

The unheralded Tendai Rukuni, who managed three victories in the total three assignments he handled during Gumbo’s absence, is now in full control of the expensively assembled side in a development that must have left prospective candidates from among our reputable coaches kicking themselves in fury.
It’s certainly not an easy period for Rush. Remember it comes as the Warriors fans maintain their division over his tenure, lashing him verbally for the average results the team clocked under his watch in their three-match schedule last month which aggregated a win, a draw and a loss.

That FC Platinum would give him the sack at a time the former Cyprus-based footballer needed their refuge, exposes the harsh cruelty and general thankless nature of football.

Because who, among his critics, can accurately point out Gumbo’s failures? Certainly not any of us here. All that has turned up after hours of searching and researching, are his successes.
“Kugona Kunenge Kudada”, since Gumbo’s arrival mid-last year, have maintained a blinding visibility at the top of the Castle Lager Premiership standings, swinging between first and second place and are not a side to be classified as under-performing. You cannot wish for anything better in realistic circumstances.

A friend tells me he fears the Zvishavane miners may have parted with their biggest asset to date. He feels FC Platinum should have left Gumbo to complete not only the current season but also the next. The Caf Confederation Cup exponents have not yet shed their co-title favourites tag and Gumbo, boasting four championships in Zimbabwe (2), Malawi and Botswana, was the best man to spearhead that assault.

If you talk to Nelson Matongorere, Zimbabwe’s senior coaches instructor, he will tell you a coach must sign a three-year contract at the minimum, which is the only possible time-frame for him to attain the targets he has set for the team.
The maiden season is focused on rebuilding the squad and the second on testing his first winning formula. He then modifies his strategy with the benefit of hindsight in the final year of his contract if nothing has come in the second.

It is only forgivable to dismiss the coach after a full three years of trying.
Gumbo clearly did not have enough time at FC Platinum. He worked with an inherited squad on arrival mid-season from Botswana and had just assembled his own squad whose combinations were beginning to click.

He was expected to further fine-tune his line-up this winter and conjure up an invincible 11 for the remainder of the season.
Premature termination of coaches’ contracts is already a malaise local football is grappling with that has affected many teams’ potential to progress. In some cases it has proved retrogressive.

Gunners’ acrimonious divorce with their title-winning mentor Moses Chunga did neither party any good. The 2009 champions have struggled for results since the departure of the coach while the same can be said for Bambo wherever he has worked in the aftermath.
If, like me, you have a hunch that Gumbo’s dismissal at FC Platinum was influenced by his performance on the Warriors bench, you would now be wondering if our beloved senior national team remains safe in the hands of the same coach.

Zifa have already assured us it is.
Soon after Gumbo was kicked out of Mandava, the mother body were at hand to pick him up for the 2013 Afcon draw conducted in Johannesburg on Thursday night. Gumbo has also comforted us, telling the nation it was a kind draw.

The Warriors were paired against Angola, in an outcome that evokes memories of the Cosafa Cup when our clashes with our Southern African neighbour always provided spectacles. We have won the regional competition a record four times and Angola thrice.
That’s a close game that’s coming up and one in which we need to plan for adequately as most experts have warned in the wake of the draw.

The last time the Warriors played Angola was in 2005 under the magical combination of Mhlauri and Chunga that once held the nation spellbound. It was in back-to-back Group C fixtures of the joint 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers and we lost 1-2 in Luanda before thumping the Palancas Negras 2-0 at the National Sports Stadium on return.

Shingi Kawondera and Benjani Mwaruwari got the goals.
Angola nevertheless topped the group and advanced to Germany, pipping Nigeria into second place to then take up the second 2006 Afcon ticket alongside Mhlauri’s Warriors who finished a gallant third.

Gumbo had played a part in the earlier part of that campaign, getting us two draws against Gabon (away) and Algeria at home and an away win over Rwanda.
He was fired after the heavy 0-3 home defeat to Nigeria.
This is Rahman’s second bite at the cherry, to prove he can take us to dreamland if given time.

Ample time is what he has now after being freed from his club commitments. He has been given all the space to spy on our opponents and to assess our foreign-based players.
Gumbo can start by joining the Dynamos delegation on their journey to Luanda next month.
That would be the most convenient time for him to get a feel of the city that will host his boys in a matter of two or three months from now.
Several Palancas Negras players also feature for Inter-Clube, Dynamos opponents, and this would be a good opportunity to get a glimpse of their style after probably missing the goalless first leg at Rufaro last week.

• Feel free to write to goodwill.zunidza@zimpapers.co.zw.