By Farayi Machamire
Speculation surrounding the future of ZPC Kariba coach Sunday Chidzambwa could soon be put to bed amid indications that the club’s leadership are moving to engage Zimbabwe’s legendary coach to extend his stay at the resort town.
This comes as Chidzambwa had signaled his intentions not to renew his contract which expires at the end of the year, citing undue influence from the board and lack of freedom to run his team.
Pressure had also mounted on the Cosafa Cup-winning coach by the grim reality that he had failed to win any silverware in his two-year stint.
Not that two years is enough to transform the fortunes of any team, but in the unforgiving world of football results are sacrosanct.
The weight of expectation laid on the broad shoulders of Zimbabwe’s most decorated coach had also been amplified by the fact that Kauya Katuruturu, as ZPC Kariba are affectionately known, had agonisingly come close to lifting the championship in their maiden season in the topflight league in 2014, only losing on the final day of the season.
Be that as it may, calm appears to have returned at the Kariba outfit with Chidzambwa and the board believed to have smoked the peace pipe and are now pulling in one direction to end the season on a high.
While Chidzambwa declined to shed light on the matter directing the Daily News to his superiors, ZPC spokesperson Fadzai Chisveto expressed optimism that ZPC will tie down the services of Chidzambwa.
With six matches remaining before end of season, ZPC are currently 17 points off the pace, in seventh place with 40 points following 11 wins, seven draws and 10 defeats.
“We are pleased with the way we have accounted for ourselves in a very competitive league where the mantra of the so called small teams no longer applies,” Chisveto told the Daily News.
“We are playing entertaining football and even dominating the traditional teams despite results not always going our way. To the community of Kariba we have become more than just a football club. And we owe it to them to maintain the core of this team which appears destined to deliver the championship to the community of Kariba.
“Hence we are opening contract negotiations with players and the technical team with the view of maintaining what has been built so far and this also includes the coach’s contract whom we are happy with.”
ZPC’s enterprising football was on display on Saturday as ZPC hosted title-chasing Dynamos at Nyamhunga Stadium.
While temperature soared significantly, Chidzambwa’s charges were as cool as cucumbers as they dominated the Harare giants for the greater part of a one-all draw that was decided by Denver Mukamba cancelling out Never Tigere’s 25th minute opener.
Chidzambwa’s passion to defeat the log leaders as well as get one over his protégée Lloyd Mutasa was palpable as he hardly sat the entire 90 minutes in which he barked instructions from the touchline.
If anything, the ZPC Kariba coach will look back at Saturday’s match as one his charges should have won after controlling the greater part of the exchanges.
For, Dynamos it was another example in which they did not play any swashbuckling football but still held their own.
“If we can improve from here I think we will produce good results,” Chidzambwa told reporters after the match. Daily News
