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FOUR DOWN, THREE TO GO . . . Spencer Manguwa, the Liverpool and Dynamos-supporting Harare business executive who predicted FC Platinum will be crowned champions this season, takes a selfie with the Statue of Liberty in New York in the background

Sports Reporter
HE doesn’t claim to be a prophet but, as each game passes by in this thrilling final countdown for the battle for the Castle Lager Premiership, and his main prediction made exactly a month ago takes shape, Spencer Manguwa is turning himself into one.

The Harare business executive, who supports Dynamos and Liverpool, was bold enough to come up with a prediction in which he picked FC Platinum to be crowned champions of the domestic Premiership when the curtains come down on the season. There was a reason his prediction created a lot of controversy and was dismissed by many, including his fellow Dynamos fans, who felt that he had lost his senses.

History Is against him because a club from outside Harare and Bulawayo has never been crowned champions of the domestic Premiership in more than half-a-century. FC Platinum, the club he picked for the honours, usually choked on the big stage and they argued that the Glamour Boys were the ones who would find a way, whether by design or by default, to be crowned champions. His prediction gave DeMbare the runners-up spot at the end of the season.

Now, with just three games to go — and four matches having been played since he made his prediction public — FC Platinum are on course to finish in first place and, remarkably, with the 72 points he suggested when he made his analysis. Incredibly, all the results that he predicted for Norman Mapeza and his men have come true so far.

“From my predictions, I think FC Platinum will finally make history this time around by winning this league championship race by two points with Dynamos finishing second two points behind,’’ he wrote in an article published in this newspaper on October 5 this year. I, somehow, correctly predicted in my analysis that the match between FC Platinum and the Green Machine (at Mandava) would end in a draw even though I wasn’t so sure it would that dramatic with the champions scoring a late equaliser.

“In my predictions, I was also sure Dynamos would beat Harare City, which they did, although I wasn’t sure Highlanders, who had been struggling of late, would find the power to floor Chicken Inn in a 4-0 drubbing at Barbourfields. I believe Dynamos will pick 14 points out of a possible 21 points in their last seven matches and they will end the season on 70 points.’’

If Dynamos win their remaining three matches, as he predicted at the beginning of last month, they will finish the season on 70 points.

“Normally, this is enough to win a team the league championship but we shouldn’t forget that this is an expanded league where, instead of the usual 16 teams, we now have 18 teams in the top-flight league,’’ he said.

While some of the games haven’t gone to prediction, it’s his FC Platinum analysis that remains very much on course.

“FC Platinum, in my analysis, will collect 19 out of the remaining 21 points and that will also take their points tally to 72 and they will win the championship by two points.

“I believe the Zvishavane miners will beat Highlanders away from home (which they did), beat Shabanie at home (which they did), draw against Harare City away from home (which happened), beat ZPC Kariba at Maglas (which they did last weekend)

“(He also believes they will) beat Tsholotsho away from home (in their next match), beat Ngezi Platinum at home and also beat Chapungu away from home in their final match.

The six wins and one draw should power FC Platinum to 72 points and, finally, in my humble analysis, they will be crowned champions. MANGUWA’S PREDICTED FINAL TOP FOUR

P W D L Pts

FC Platinum 34 20 12 2 72 CHAMPS

Dynamos       34 21 7 6 70

Ngezi Platinum   34 20 7 7 67

Chicken inn   34 20 5 9 65