A CROSS SECTION of Highlanders fans have expressed mixed feelings over the Bulawayo giants’ failure to beat perennial enemies Dynamos since 2006, following Bosso’s 0-1 defeat to the defending league champions at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
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A few are growing impatient with head coach Kelvin Kaindu.
However, some defended the Zambian gaffer, extending the blame to the club’s leadership which they said was failing to revisit the yester-year club policies that brought glory to Bosso, who last beat Dynamos in a league match in 2006 under the mentorship of Methembe Ndlovu.
Dynamos handed Bosso their first defeat of the season in round 12 of the 2014 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League pushing them down to position four on the log standings.
Faith Silandulo Dube, a Highlanders life member yesterday said he felt Kaindu’s tactics were to blame for the failure to beat Dynamos.
“After 2006, no other coach has stayed for this long at Highlanders and for all that time, Kaindu has failed to come up with a strategy to beat Dynamos. He is failing to read Dynamos. This is his third year and there are too many experiments with the team. Look at Dynamos and how they beat Bosso; they never play veteran Murape (Murape) against teams like Chiredzi, but they will play him against Highlanders. Murape is Dynamos through and through and knows what it takes to beat Highlanders. I think Kaindu has failed,” Dube said.
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Veteran radio broadcaster Ezra Tshisa Sibanda blamed Kaindu for Highlanders’ failure to beat Dynamos.
“After eight years of trying, Highlanders wanted to show how good they were this time around. They psyched themselves up and looked at their opponents Dynamos as equals. In the end, they were just loudmouths, ridiculed and made complete fools of, by an out-of-form but determined DeMbare,” he said.
“This was a chance for Bosso to finally end the dominance of DeMbare, they have the squad which should be delivering, but they have been found wanting yet again. In the past, excuses were given that the team lacked depth and experience hence played second fiddle to their fiercest rivals.
“At the beginning of this season, the Highlanders executive went out in full force purchasing players in preparation for the stanza while the coach was away supposedly at his usual training courses which seem not to be helpful to the cause.
“With all these players and such a big squad how and why is Bosso still performing badly? In football, consistency is the key and it’s opposite at Highlanders. The technical team led by head coach has failed to come out with their first 11 since the season started. As far as I’m concerned the head coach calls the shots. He is responsible for team selection and certainly the blame should be placed on him. The way he tinkers with the team, week in week out, makes people wonder what his strategy is all about and how he expects to win games,” Sibanda said.
Another Bosso club member, who refused to be identified, defended Kaindu and said Highlanders on Sunday, played a home-grown side that failed to beat Dynamos.
“They should keep on trying; maybe one day they will beat Dynamos. On Sunday they had the home-grown team and they lost. The team was perfect and that exonerates the coach and the so-called traitors. The argument about fielding players from Harare against Dynamos was strong, but it’s now time to sober up for Highlanders and focus on the bigger things and forget about Dynamos. They should have gone knowing that they were away and playing the defending champions, fight for a draw and getting a point than trying to beat Dynamos and putting themselves under unnecessary pressure. We can’t blame the coach. How many coaches have failed to beat Dynamos since 2006?” the Bosso member said.
In 2007, came the legendary Madinda Ndlovu, Egyptian Mohamed Fathi and Mkhuphali Masuku, but failed to beat Dynamos in a league match after Methembe had thumped Dynamos back-to-back.
Highlanders last won the championship in 2006. Another Highlanders supporter said: “The coach has done his best and the whole institution, the executive and the board must support him and unite to beat Dynamos. The problem is everyone wants to have his glory, but there is nothing wrong with consulting previous leaders of the club to find out what they did for the club to beat Dynamos,” he said
Fans took to the social network Facebook saying Kaindu had run out of ideas and should be elevated to a higher technical position with his assistant Mark Mathe taking over the hot seat.
