HIGHLANDERS chairman Peter Dube says if ever there was a rift between the club’s coach Kelvin Kaindu and welfare manager Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo, the executive was yet to be made aware of it. Fortune Mbele Sports Reporter
Following last Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Black Mambas at Morris Depot, Harare, there have been allegations of Mashinkila-Khumalo interfering with Kaindu in team selection and Bosso fans baying for the Zambian gaffer’s blood in Harare after the defeat.
Dube said if there was that perceived crisis in the technical department, he was yet to learn of it. Thursday’s loss was just unfortunate, he said.
“I have not heard of that issue. I cannot be entertaining posts from social media by people who cannot be identified. Everybody has a platform. We are sitting today (yesterday) and we will be reviewing that match. We are going to look at the match preparations, how the match was played and what went wrong. All we need to do is to pick ourselves up and move forward. Teams are strong this year,” Dube said.
The Highlanders boss said the coach and the manager’s job descriptions were clear and no one influences the other, dismissing allegations of a plot to sabotage the team.
“When we win, everybody smiles and when we lose, it becomes a blame game. When it comes to collective work, we need to be very careful. We have just been unlucky and no one is sabotaging deliberately.
“The call by some people that we should interview individuals one by one will be tantamount to witch-hunting. We will be sitting today with those members of the executive who watched that match in Harare to get to know the facts of what transpiered,” Dube said. Dube took time to explain that Highlanders had been doing very well from last year going into the current season, judging by the number of players that had attracted national team coaches.
Highlanders, for the first time in years, have four players — goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya, Masimba Mambare, Milton Ncube, Peter “Rio” Moyo and a recent addition, speed king Bruce Kangwa with the Warriors.
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Mambare has been captain of the Warriors since being called up to the national team. After the match, it is alleged that Kaindu approached some fans and intimated to them that Mashinkila-Khumalo was responsible for selecting the team, but the Zambian gaffer has vehemently denied the assertion on Highlanders’ official Facebook page, standing by his manager.
“Willard is doing very well. I respect him and I often hear people saying he’s selecting the team, but all that is not coming from my mouth. Trust me in that I’m the head coach and I will take my place and that is good for the team,” Kaindu is quoted saying.
Previously, both Kaindu and Mashinkila-Khumalo have denied that they were at loggerheads, saying they were working well together for the success of the club.
After the loss to Mambas, Bosso dropped to position three on the log standings with 34 points after they were displaced by champions Dynamos who beat Motor Action 1-0. They are a point above the Bulawayo giants. In their next assignment, Bosso will be home at Barbourfields to Monomotapa.
