Kandi speaks on DeMbare problems

By Tadious Manyepo

Former Dynamos goalkeeper Laban Kandi has blamed the current problems bedevilling the Harare soccer giants on a general lack of good governance and proper junior development structures within the club’s system.

The Glamour Boys are in real relegation danger on 15th place, having accumulated a paltry 31 points from 28 matches this season.

So ordinary has been the former champions throughout this season that they have had to dismiss coach Lloyd Mutasa at one point, re-hiring him before finally showing him the exit door three weeks ago.

Lloyd Chigowe and Murape Murape have since taken over the reins but with the Premier Soccer League ruling out the expansion of the league to 20 teams as had been widely speculated, a development which would have seen only two teams getting the chop this season, Dynamos need to quickly up their act in their last six outings if they are to retain their top-flight status.

Although the Glamour Boys once fought relegation in 2005, they were not as hopeless as the current crop which for more than 10 matches have failed to master a decent shot on target.

And Kandi, who turned 66 last week and played a key role to the team’s 1978 league triumph, has joined an array of the club’s legends in voicing concern over the current state of affairs at the team.

He said Mutasa was the scapegoat to the deep-rooted problems at the club.

“It’s really painful to see an institution called Dynamos struggling to hold their own in the top-flight league. There are things which the system is not doing right,” said Kandi.

“The problem at the Glamour Boys is deep rooted as I see it. It goes beyond the coach. So firing Lloyd Mutasa was not the solution to the problems bedevilling the club.

“Dynamos ought to be serious in what they are doing. They belong to the top half of the league and not the position they are occupying on the log like now.

“It is actually shocking to see Dynamos being touted as one of the relegation candidates in a league which should have teams who look up to them for inspiration.

“I am not saying DeMbare must always win the league, but they should compete for the title or at least be on a respectable position.”

Kandi said Dynamos, as a big club, should at least be competitive to make the league exciting.

“Look at all those big teams say in South Africa. The likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are not always winning the league title but they still retain respect as the giants of that country’s football since they are always competitive.

“The worse mistake one can make at Dynamos is to let the team enter a rebuilding mode. Why would one rebuild an institution like Dynamos, that’s blatant and uncalled for.

“But you sit down and see that it is not the coach’s problem but a system problem. Never under the blue moon will one hear that Dynamos has to be rebuilt. You cannot rebuild an existing empire, you can only spruce it up,” Kandi said.

He said Dynamos should have a vibrant junior development programme as they used to rather than having to conduct trials for potential players.

“A team like DeMbare cannot be seen conducting trials. That’s very shocking, good players should jostle to join the team not having players going for trials.

“At a time when the team will be busy conducting trials, serious teams would already have captured good players and Dynamos would be left with chaff to sniff.

“The team should have a sound junior development system and players must be allowed to go through the ranks before graduating to the senior team not just taking every player whose freestyle would have impressed during trials.

“There is also this issue of consulting former players. Big teams across the globe respect and always consult their former players. This is also a contributor to the problems at the team.” The Herald