Word that hit the nation on September 27 that Dynamos had fired coach Lloyd Mutasa did not take anybody by surprise since this was expected due to DeMbare’s sorry standing in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
insidesport: with MICHAEL KARIATI
For the past six months, Dynamos fans have been living in hell, coming to stadiums to watch their team being hit left, right and centre, with no resistance at all.
There is no doubt that Dynamos fans will blame Samaita should their team get relegated from the Premiership, and at the rate things are going, there is no guarantee that the 1998 Caf Champions League finalists will survive.
There has always been talk in the past that Dynamos will not be relegated irrespective of what position they finish in. The belief has always been that those in authority would increase teams to accommodate what is deemed Zimbabwe’s most popular football or sports team.
That, however, is wishful thinking. There are already too many teams in the Premiership right now, and the truth is that the former Glamour Boys would be relegated should they finish among those four relegation positions.
At one time, Mutasa was fired by then club boss Keni Mubaiwa, but was reinstated into the hot seat by club kingmaker Bernard Marriot, who has the final say on decisions made at the club.
Mubaiwa resigned in protest and the Harare businessman could be laughing out loud saying he told DeMbare long back that Mutasa was no longer the man for the job, but the club would not listen.
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Ironically, Mutasa had done more than enough to win Mubaiwa’s confidence and justify his continuation as Dynamos coach after his team of untried players finished second behind FC Platinum in 2017 and for that matter lost out the championship on the last day of play.
In fact, there are some who believe that Mutasa is the one who built the team that won Kalisto Pasuwa his first league title with Dynamos in 2014 after Mutasa was fired and Pasuwa took over exactly the same team and went on to win the championship.
Some are even questioning the timing of Mutasa’s sacking saying the club should have been lenient with their loyal son and allowed him go through the distance and make a decision after the remaining six league matches.
There are others too who believe that Mutasa should have been allowed to stay on unless Dynamos had other replacements who were not Lloyd Chigove and Murape Murape whom they rate very lowly.
This was also coming hard on the lessons of early in the season when DeMbare became worse than they were when Biggie Zuze took over following Mutasa’s brief sacking by Mubaiwa.
Whatever, the results were, there is no one who can question Mutasa’s love for Dynamos and his passion for his job as this was clearly evident in the manner in which he dressed while on the DeMbare bench.
His all-blue suits, white shirt and a matching blue tie, were a familiar sight at DeMbare matches.
A fine all-round midfielder during his playing days, Mutasa’s coaching career, however, has not been all that of a bed of roses.
He was forced to leave cash-rich FC Platinum after failing to win the league title despite being given a huge cheque to spend. His spells at Kiglon, Whawha and Flame Lily too, cannot best be described as successful, but failure.
Following his sacking at Dynamos, the question right now is: Will Mutasa have the respect of football followers when he sits on the bench as one of the Warriors’ assistant coaches?
Already one football critic has questioned the direction the Warriors are heading, when the national team’s assistant coaches are being fired for poor results.
Another has also questioned whether such coaches would be able to handle the national team at Africa Cup of Nations level when they are failing at domestic football level.
What would also be the reaction of the Dynamos fans when Mutasa enters the field of play with the Warriors?
Surely the events at Dynamos over the past week will have a long-term effect on Mutasa. He will feel that he failed dismally and that may make it difficult for him to regain his confidence.
However, he has the time to regain that confidence as he is only an assistant to Sunday Chidzambwa at the Warriors. Perhaps being an assistant is what Mutasa should be, and should have been at Dynamos — not as head coach.
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