By Ricky Zililo
HIGHLANDERS coach Bongani Mafu has dropped a bombshell ahead of the blood and thunder Premiership clash against Dynamos saying his players are unfit and don’t behave like professionals.
According to the club’s chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede, Mafu pinpointed lack of condition as a reason for his side’s capitulation following their 1-1 stalemate against How Mine about a fortnight ago.
The gold miners had a good game and were by far superior to Highlanders and with a bit of luck, they could have walked out of Barbourfields Stadium with maximum points as Bosso players’ resilience withered.
Highlanders’ players, particularly midfielders, have this season been failing to track their opponents and as such have been poor in recovering after losing the ball.
To work on the players’ endurance, Mafu has introduced compulsory road runs from Barbourfields Stadium to the Victoria Falls Road garage, which is about 10KM away.
Gumede said Mafu had complained that a number of his players were rather limited and needed to improve their physical condition as they could not last 90 minutes.
“The coach has seen, courtesy of the How Mine game, that there is an element of not being fit in his players. So he has started a small fitness thing and has divided the team into two.
“One team will play a friendly this afternoon while the other players will be running from the base to Falls Garage via the United College of Education. This is to try and get rid of excess toxins in players’ systems and to also get some thigh work. Hopefully the muscles don’t get damaged in the process,” Gumede said.
Highlanders takes on Dynamos in Harare when league matches resume next week after a two-week break to accommodate national team commitments in the Africa Cup of Nations and Chan qualifiers.
Gumede declined to comment on the coach’s programme after being probed whether it is proper to work on fitness at this stage of the season when players should be in peak condition and concentrating on tactics.
He said Mafu told the club’s leaders that almost all the injured players were now back in training.
“I have been advised that Mthulisi Maphosa’s injuries from a car accident are superficial so he will be alright. Almost everyone is back at training, according to the coach,” Gumede said.
The recovery of players should be a good thing for Mafu ahead of the crunch Dynamos match.
Strikers Gabriel Nyoni, Ozias Zibande and Maphosa have been on the sidelines as a result of injuries.
Gumede also revealed that they were concerned about “the return of slight indiscipline” in the team, which he attributed to players having disposable income.
“There is a return of slight indiscipline in our team. Our feeling is that people who earn a lot of money are a problem because of their high disposable income.
“We have told the technical department not to let this thing (indiscipline) start again because it ruined us last year and we can’t fall into the same trap,” he said, declining to mention names.
Mafu could not be reached for comment as his phone continuously rang unanswered.
About players’ outstanding allowances that led to a strike before Bosso’s clash against FC Platinum, Gumede said they owed them allowances for a single game. The Chronicle
