There are no written guarantees in football and events on the ground suggest that Dynamos will find it difficult to move out of the relegation zone they are in right now unless they change the way they are playing.
By MICHAEL KARIATI
Although there is this belief that DeMbare will move out of this position and fight strongly for the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title, this is not guaranteed in these modern days when the balance of football power is shifting from the traditional giants to emerging forces.
With five games gone, Dynamos do not have a reliable team that plays week in and week out as is the case with their rivals FC Platinum, Highlanders and Ngezi Platinum Stars, whose fans know whom they are going to watch play whenever they flock to the stadiums.
Some might argue that it is too early to judge the 1998 Caf Champions League finalists, but the gap that is already there between them and the leaders — Madamburo, Kugona Kunenge Kudada, Bosso and the GameCocks of Chicken Inn — will not be easy to close.
There is no agreement among football followers as to whether DeMbare’s poor start to the season has something to do with technical shortcomings on the part of coach Lloyd Mutasa; or with their management, which continues to be locked in payment disputes with their own players.
Everywhere he has been, Mutasa has a history of producing exciting-to-watch teams, but has failed to deliver the ultimate prize, that is the league title. The question is: Is he cursed or that he is just not good enough to win the league championship?
The Dynamos leadership too has been very insensitive to the players’ welfare. How can, for example, a player like Ocean Mushure be owed money dating back to 2016 when the club is raking in thousands of dollars in gate-takings?
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The result of the whole situation has been an exodus of quality and experienced players coupled with player training boycotts, which has not been good for the club on the field of play.
Whatever the case is, the fact remains that Dynamos are not where they are supposed to be, and it will not be surprising should they spend most of their time this season fighting relegation instead of winning the league title as was the case in 2005.
That year, Dynamos needed a late Elliot Matsika goal for a 2-1 win over Masvingo United at Mucheke Stadium to escape relegation on the last day of play, failure of which would have seen them drop to Division One.
The talk within the football fraternity is that Dynamos will not go down to Division One even if they finish among the bottom four with word being that the PSL would in that case increase teams in the league to keep their cash cow in the kraal.
Fine, it is not in dispute that DeMbare are one of the biggest football teams in the country if not the biggest, but they should not take comfort in the view that they will not be relegated should they fail to meet the grade in the Premiership.
Due to their standing in Pan-African football, Dynamos should prove their overall strength on the field of play and justify the fact that they are Zimbabwe’s biggest and most successful football team.
The 2008 Caf Champions League semi-finalists should not live on past glory, but restore their dominance and the sound management that was the hallmark of the team when the likes of Morrison Sifelani was chairman of the club.
Dynamos should also realise that their poor showing has a negative impact on other clubs in the Premiership. When Dynamos play badly, crowd attendances go down, and so does the revenue of most of the clubs who get their biggest cheque of the season when they play DeMbare at home.
That is not all. Zimbabwean football also loses its excitement when Dynamos are being beaten left, right, and centre. Clubs in the Premiership want to justify their existence in the top-flight league by beating a strong Dynamos, not the DeMbare that is there today.
That is not the end of it. At the end of the season, the team that wins the championship will not be comfortable to be branded the champions of Zimbabwe after overcoming a weak DeMbare. They want to be known for the manner they dismantled a Dynamos team at the top of their game on their way to the title.
A weak Dynamos will always not be good for Zimbabwean football. On that premise, Dynamos should put their house in order and be competitive again.
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