The Sunday Mail
THE other day I saw Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa in a sports betting shop.
What he was doing there is anybody’s guess.
The other day someone told me he had seen the history-making coach hitch-hiking from Eastlea into town.
Thankfully the kombi conductor was a Dynamos supporter and knew what Chidzambwa is worth, he asked Mhofu not to pay. Way to go good guy!
News that Chidzambwa has joined ZPC Kariba is just sweet to those of us who watched closely as the effects of the Asiagate ban took their toll on this football giant. When Mhofu says football is his life, please take it seriously.
His arrival at ZPC Kariba should breathe some life into a side that is clearly suffering from the hangover caused by nearly winning the championship last season.
The ailment that is affecting ZPC Kariba is the one that nearly sank Harare City last season after they also narrowly missed out on the league title in 2013.
The Sunshine Boys battled relegation in a year they expected to lift the title after losing out to DeMbare the previous year. Now after coming agonisingly close to the Promised Land last year, ZPC Kariba started 2015 believing this will be their year of putting right what went wrong in the previous campaign.
Everyone at the club seemed to forget that this is a side that only made its Premiership debut in 2014, a side that cannot be considered as one of the big boys on these shores.
The Electricians needed a reality check soon after missing the league title and providing four players among the XI Soccer Stars of the Year.
It didn’t come, life went on as usual.
Now Saul Chaminuka is jobless. His loss is Mhofu’s gain. Chidzambwa will not mislead the ZPC executive, he is a man made of better stuff. He will tell them the truth and seek to do business the best way he knows how. The 3-5-2 formation has a firm believer. ZPC Kariba are a difficult team to beat and under Chidzambwa they will become a much tougher nut to crack, because — to Mhofu — a solid defence is the first step to winning a match.
His approach has often been labelled boring but it has served the former Dynamos coach well. But for all that Chidzambwa has achieved, should he still be taking up jobs at modest outfits such as the one that calls Nyamhunga Stadium home?
Surely a man as accomplished as Mhofu should have a role to play in the national structures. Check this out: Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe is the Zifa technical director and Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa the ZPC Kariba coach!
In other countries, men like Chidzambwa are accommodated in the national structures. They are responsible for scouting players, training coaches and providing that football face as and when it’s needed. With all due respect to Jongwe, the post of technical director needs a better man, deserves a better man.
Jongwe is highly qualified but has no record to speak of. He’s just a guy who knows how to scheme. Meanwhile, a US$2 000 pay cheque before winning bonuses are factored in should do Mhofu a world of good. No need to bet on that one. Eloquence a difficult thing. There are men and women who can sell their positions, they are so good at speaking. They can preach and convert the converted. When it comes to eloquence Gushungo is way up there, Professor Jonathan Moyo is too and Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa cannot be ignored.
Last week on Wednesday, ZBC SFM gave Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and communications manager Xolisani Gwesela a chance to pitch their positions. It was a PR disaster for Zifa.
Yes, Mash stammers and Gwesela speaks like a toddler, but that is not my problem. The pair just waffled and bootlicked Cuthbert Dube so much he must have found himself drenched as he sat in his Groombridge mansion.
VaShagare exits the scene.
VaShagare is the founder of DeMbare DotComs and can be contacted on that Facebook page as well as the email [email protected]
