The Sunday Mail
Don Makanyanga
Sports Reporter
MARK HARRISON believes Highlanders are the country’s biggest club by virtue of their fan base and wants Bosso to re-emerge as the giants that turned Barbourfields into a fortress where many teams feared to visit.
The 59-year-old journeyman English coach, who has seen duty at CAPS United and Harare City, is feeling relaxed in the City of Kings and Queens since being unveiled as the Bosso gaffer last month.
Although those in the DeMbare camp will rule him offside on his claims, Harrison argues that he has seen enough of the domestic game to believe that it is actually Highlanders who are the country’s biggest club and has vowed to regain the Bulawayo giants’ lost aura.
“I have always enjoyed the passion of the fans every time I have been here (Barbourfields) as an opponent, the atmosphere is just excellent and hopefully together we can make the atmosphere even bigger and better with a little bit of more success,” said Harrison.
Bosso together with Dynamos and CAPS United make up Zimbabwe’s Big Three.
But the trio has in the last three years been forced to leave in the shadows of FC Platinum Stars, Ngezi Platinum Stars and Chicken Inn, whith company sides flexing their financial muscle to lure some of the best talent in the country.
Harrison noted that his mission was to restore Bosso’s lost glory.
“I signed a two-year contract with Highlanders, with the objective of being successful, the club has been starved of the championship and I know it’s not an easy job to coach such a big institution.
“The reason why we are in football is to coach the best clubs or at the highest level, that is why I am at Highlanders, I know they are starved of success, I know they are desperate of success, and I know they demand success,” he said.
Harrison returned to the country four-weeks ago to lead the Bulawayo giants after a six-month sabbatical in his native country.
Before the sabbatical Harrison had spent two years with Harare City as technical director and coach respectively.
That was after a stint at CAPS United that lasted five months before he crossed the border to manage Botswana’s Township Rovers.
On his return Harrison has already fallen in love with second largest city of the country as the Bosso fans have already embraced him with Ndebele name “Makho Hadebe.”
“Bulawayo is bit quieter than Harare, it is bit more relaxed here, Harare is a hectic place, I am enjoying my stay here so far, it is a nice change from Harare.
“I have heard they given me a nickname, have had good feel over the years with nicknames, some good, some bad but for now I am not 100 percent about the meaning, hopefully it is a good name,” he said as he burst into laughter.
With Highlanders becoming a pale shadow of its former self, the Briton believes the multitude of Bosso’s supporters will play a pivotal role to end the club’s 14-year league trophy drought.
“Over the years that I have been in Zimbabwe I know what Highlanders represents and what it can offer, supporters must come to the stadium and together we need to turn Barbourfields into a fortress, where teams will be frightened to come and play we need to win the game before kick-off’’.
After finishing strongly, the 2019 season which saw them losing once in their last 10 league matches and lifting the Chibuku Super Cup, the former Golden Arrows manager seeks to continue from there.
“Highlanders had a good second half last year winning the Chibuku Super Cup and that was a big feat and we have got to try to build on that success,” said Harrison.
With Bosso having last won the championship under Methembe Ndlovu in 2006, Harrison is cautious and feels Highlanders will only be ripe for the title next year.
“We want to go for it this year but it may be too ambitious, but definitely in the second year we are going to go for it.
“In the meantime, whatever comes our way let’s try to win it, the objective of any football coach is to win football matches and as many possible and that is my objective I am no different, we are going to try to be more successful than we were last year.
“I have a good understanding of Zimbabwean football, you are travelling to all different parts of the country with different conditions, playing fields are not as good as others, there is always a lot of inconsistency on that side which makes it very difficult for teams.
“The Zimbabwean league is not an easy one, teams are competitive, winning a match is not a given,” said Harrison.
Despite Highlanders being one of the few teams that have been inactive on the transfer market, instead choosing to stick to their player development policy, Harrison revealed that he will be making some signings to add depth to the squad.
“There are some good young players and it is correct to say they have been rebuilding in the last couple of seasons and they have a good core and certainly I will have to add four or five new signings to strengthen the squad to add depth.
“I enjoy having young players in a team but that should be done in right manner, young players need to learn and they learn from senior players hence there is need of a good balance.
“Highlanders philosophy of bringing youth players from their development teams marries with me that’s is what I was doing at Harare City because in a professional set up if you have an average squad of 22 years, it makes football business sense,” Harrison said.
