Pasuwa gets DeMbare vote of confidence

By Eddie Chikamhi

The Dynamos executive have passed a vote of confidence on Calisto Pasuwa and are ready give him a long term contract after he led the club to a remarkable league and cup double in the just-ended Premiership season.

Pasuwa, who was hired in August to finish the job started by his close friend Lloyd Mutasa, led the club to one of their most successful seasons in recent years after winning the Castle Lager championship and the Mbada Diamonds Cup on Sunday.

DeMbare also announced yesterday that they will play in the Champions League next season. Dynamos chairman, Kenny Mubaiwa, said they were ready to engage Pasuwa on a long-term basis after the club’s leadership threw their weight behind the coach at an executive meeting held yesterday.

Mubaiwa hailed Pasuwa for getting the club to the Promised Land, ending a four-year wait, despite a difficult start to the campaign.

“Anyone can agree with me that we had a great comeback in the season to win the league title and then add the Mbada Diamonds Cup on top of it. It hasn’t been easy and the decision to bring Pasuwa to our coaching department in the second half changed our fortunes for the better.

“We started winning matches consistently and things started moving smoothly until we achieved our goals.  So I can say we are really satisfied with the coach. We are all happy with what he has done since he joined us this season.

“He has had a very good stint and as Dynamos we are prepared to give him a longer contract because if he could achieve so much with the little time that he worked with this group of players, what more if he gets more time?

“Two or three years will do but we will have to hear from him because we haven’t started negotiating. I believe he can build a strong team for the future,” said Mubaiwa.

The Dynamos executive is expected to open talks with Pasuwa and the rest of the technical team on Friday to agree on individual contracts. Pasuwa indicated after winning the title that he would need at least three years to build a formidable outfit to compete successfully at home and in Africa.

Mubaiwa said they have since opened negotiations with players whose contracts expire at the end of the year.

“We appointed a committee at the end of October to look into that and I am happy that some players have already put pen to paper.  However, we are still trying to agree with the others and I hope we will be able to retain the bulk of our team and add a few more to beef up our squad,” said Mubaiwa.

He also revealed that Dynamos have lined up plans to host their club awards on December 14 to reward players and coaches for their contributions to the team’s success this year. Dynamos won the championship and the biggest knockout tournament.

They also raked in the Bob’87 Trophy and the season-opening NetOne Charity Shield. It was also a good season for team manager Richard Chihoro, who achieved a double for the second time in four years after a similar feat as assistant coach to David Mandigora in 2007.