The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
LIZWE Sweswe’s return to Mandava Stadium as the new Bulawayo Chiefs coach is one of the interesting subplots of next weekend’s Castle Lager Challenge Cup.
Bulawayo Chiefs’ miraculous recovery from the deathbed has been one of the most topical issues during the offseason.
The Ninjas, who won the 2022 Chibuku Super Cup despite being dogged by financial challenges, date league champions FC Platinum in the season-opening cup encounter in Zvishavane on March 11.
Sweswe joined FC Platinum as Norman Mapeza’s assistant in 2017.
He led the miners to the league title in 2019, after the former Zimbabwe captain left to join South African side Chippa United.
He, however, parted ways with the club in October 2020, after reportedly falling out with the then-head coach, Pieter de Jongh.
De Jongh has since resurfaced in Malawi, while Sweswe had, until his appointment by Chiefs in January, been coaching in Division One.
“It’s a great feeling being back in the Premier Soccer League after a short layoff.
“I think it was overdue for me to come back,” the former Tsholotsho FC coach told The Sunday Mail Sport.
“Going back to Mandava excites me, taking into consideration that I had a good relationship with FC Platinum as a club.
“I left the club when everyone loved me there, but what could I do? Sometimes it is the nature of the job.”
Chiefs, he said, now resemble a new team because of the rebuilding exercise.
“This game will give us a mirror of where we are now in terms of the physical condition of players.”
They might have ended the year with a trophy in their cabinet, but Chiefs were hit by a financial crisis towards the end of the season.
So dire was the financial situation at Chiefs that some had begun writing their epitaph. The departure of some of their most senior players early this year made the situation worse, fuelling growing speculation that Amakhosi would sell their franchise to relegated Harare City.
But, like a phoenix, the club have risen from the ashes.
During the transfer season, they bought a number of players to replace the likes of Perfect Chikwende, Kelvin Madzongwe, David Bizabani, Hughes Chikosa and the Moyo twins — Kelvin and Elvis — who deserted the club at the end of the 2022 season.
Chiefs also managed to retain key players like skipper Malvin Mkolo, exciting midfielder Mtokhosizi Msebe, Billy Veremu, Farau Matare and bustling striker Obriel Chirinda.
They have drafted in former Warriors CHAN squad captain Danny “Deco” Phiri and ex-FC Platinum and Tsholotsho defender William Stima.
“We went through a dark patch in the last part of the year 2022, and, like we always said, that was a strong learning curve, and we believe it has made us grow braver to face the year 2023,” club spokesperson Javas Sibanda told The Sunday Mail Sport.
The dark period was a lesson for Chiefs, who now claim they will not “get caught wrong again”.
“We appreciate where we went wrong. The past year also had good lessons for us and we will definitely continue with the good things we did,” he said.
“We had a number of players leave us and we also had quite a number of players who stayed with us and committed to push the Bulawayo Chiefs brand going forward.” Panashe Shoko, Thomas Mudzengerere and Mandlenkosi Gasela have also stayed at Chiefs, while Stanson Khanye and Ayanda Ncube are some of the new additions.
Sibanda said they will reveal a few more additions to the squad soon.
Chiefs made history when they beat Herentals 1-0 in a Chibuku Super Cup final at Barbourfields Stadium in November.
Arthur “Diego” Musiyiwa struck the solitary goal.
The attacking midfielder, however, has since joined Dynamos.
They now will be hoping to get their second piece of silverware when they clash against Premiership kings FC Platinum.
■ Twitter: @LangtonGuraz
