It could be Platinum again in 2020

Sport
It is still a long way to go before the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season roars into life, but events on the ground seem to tell that this is going to be an entertaining, if not exciting, eight-month show.

insidesport:with MICHAEL KARIATI

It is still a long way to go before the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season roars into life, but events on the ground seem to tell that this is going to be an entertaining, if not exciting, eight-month show.

The spending madness that has characterised the off-season transfer market makes the season hard to predict although there are question marks over the logic of one team buying 21 new players.Caps United, Dynamos, FC Platinum and Ngezi Platinum Stars have each bought not less than 10 players while Chicken Inn, Triangle and Manica Diamonds weighed in with not less than four new players each in their camps.The fact that Caps United,  Dynamos and Manica Diamonds,  could compete on the transfer market with the likes of FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Chicken Inn and Triangle, is enough evidence to show that the gap between the big money boys and the rest of the Premiership has been partially closed and they are marking tough guarantee to win , only such a strike could be hit  easily at Betway after making such  sacrifices.

Over the years, Pure Platinum, Madamburo, the Game Cocks and the Sugar Sugar Boys could attract the top coaches, had the best players — and, above all — could afford to pay their players handsomely, while those from other teams were always on industrial action — over non-payment of salaries and bonuses —and, therefore, could not produce their best under such circumstances.

That big advantage has been swept away as Caps United, Dynamos and Highlanders are now financially secure with good sponsorship, while the likes of Manica Diamonds, Bulawayo City and ZPC Kariba are also not way off financially.

However, with most of the top players having been taken away from the market, there is less and less activity right now, and the teams are now more focused on what lies ahead — that is football on the field of play.

The questions that come to mind are: Will it be Dynamos after five years on the sideway? What of Highlanders or the Green Machine of Caps United? Do they have the overall strength and team spirit to do it?

Others are asking; Will newly promoted Cranborne Bullets do it the Black Rhinos way by coming straight from Division One and take the league championship in the same way their big brother did in 1984?

Or will Ngezi Platinum Stars this time around end the bridesmaid tag or as per tradition, they will fire the coach before the end of the season?

What of Triangle?  Will Taurai Mangwiro’s side finally have something to show for all their long association with the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League?

These are the questions which are being asked over and over again, but after looking at the off-season activity, the money for the league championship should — once again — be on FC Platinum’s Pure Platinum Boys.

Although the Zvishavane-based side were a disappointment in the Caf Champions League, there is a world of difference between continental football and the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League to the extent that it would be unfair to judge FC Platinum in Zimbabwe and FC Platinum in Africa.

In fact, the quality of football that they displayed in Africa should be enough to justify their billing as odds-on-favourites to win the domestic title. After all, this small Zimbabwean team held Africa’s most successful team, Al Ahly of Egypt, to a 1-1 draw.

Surely, having contested against the likes of Al Ahly, Etoile du Sahel and Al Hilal and previously against Esperance, Orlando Pirates and Horoya, FC Platinum will not — in any way — be intimidated by local opposition.

After all, they have won the domestic title over the past three years, creating a huge shift in the balance of football power after becoming the one and only team outside Harare to win the championship — not only once, but thrice, and for that matter in succession.

They have been careful in their activity on the market, by picking on the right players for their Caf Champions League and domestic football requirements.

A club that buys the likes of Ralph Kawondera, Nomore Chinyerere, Donald Dzvinyai and Last Jedi can best be said to have bought wisely.

However, their eccentric new coach Pieter De Jong, should be warned that FC Platinum are not as patient as Bosso — they fire when things are not going their way especially after spending on quality not quantity.

What is making Pure Platinum’s position even stronger is the standing of the opposition. Caps United, for example, have roped in 21 new players who might find it difficult to get to seriously challenge for the title in the same manner they did last season.

What the Makepekepe leadership could have seen as team building could be team destruction as they also have other players who were left over from 2019.The same goes for Dynamos who also went panic buying not because they wanted to, but because they wanted to be seen to be doing something on the market.Something they thought would be a Betway win easy .

However, unlike Caps United, who took everything that came across them, Dynamos identified where their problem lay and tried to plug the holes, although 14 new players is still too much.

Highlanders, on the hand, have been very modest on the transfer market. Although they have retained the majority of their 2019 team, they have a new coach Mark Harrison who will have to familiarise himself with the players first.

Bosso will surely parade an exciting young side, but to say they will win the league championship would be expecting too much from this Highlanders team.

The truth is that their young side is still not yet ripe for the big prize, but their chance — if they stay together — could come in 2021 or probably 2022.

The fact remains that the three traditional giants Caps United, Dynamos and Highlanders will give a good account of themselves, but will still not be good enough for the title come the end of the war.

Not so financially stable teams, Cranborne Bullets, Tenax, Hwahwa, Yadah, Bulawayo Chiefs, Black Rhinos, and Harare City, will find the battle a bit harder and are likely to spend most of their time battling for survival.

The likes of Manica Diamonds, Triangle and ZPC Kariba will pick up valuable points, but mostly at home and would be content with a top eight finish.

Unfortunately Zimbabwe does not have a Top 8 knockout tournament.

Perhaps the teams which will seriously challenge FC Platinum for the honour to be the 2020 Zimbabwean champions are Chicken Inn, and 2018 runners-up Ngezi Platinum Stars.

A team that parades the likes of Devon Chafa Nigel Makumbe, Junior Zinfoga, and Denver Mukamba as well as Wellington Taderera cannot be discounted so easily.

One football critic jokingly said Chafa moves around with the league championship with him. Could this be true, he won it at Dynamos, moved to Caps United,and won it, At FC Platinum, he won it twice. Can he, this time, take the championship to Mhondoro-Ngezi or that he will force the departure of Rodwell Dhlakama for signing him?

Then there are the Gamecocks. The 2019 runners-up have an all-round team of youth and experience and a title-winning coach, Joey Antipas, who won the championship with the same team in 2015, and before that, with Motor Action in 2010.

The Gamecocks have also been on the transfer market, but theirs was not a massive recruitment but, an acquisition of the material they required.

They won the signature of the much sought after Ian Nekati from ZPC Kariba and are also proud to have got Clive Dzingai and Paddy Nyamurapa to add to their flock.

From the outset, the real fight for the title looks like it would involve Chicken Inn, FC Platinum and Ngezi Platinum Stars with the likes of Caps United, and Dynamos, taking the early leadership but fading up later.

However, the beauty of football is in its power to surprise and many would surely be surprised if FC Platinum do not — once again — win the 2020 Zimbabwean football championship.

Who do you think will take it ?

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