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Bothwell Mahlengwe
The 2015 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season is now in full swing having started when Tsholotsho stunned Harare City 1-0 at Rufaro.

It was interesting that the teams involved in the first game of the season also represent the vast difference in expectations that lie among the PSL teams.

The two teams also represent the difference in expectations heaped on the coaches by their respective clubs.

Harare City is vying for the league championship, Tsholotsho will be fighting to survive relegation.

While Harare City have gone through a two-week high intensity training camp in Nyanga, nothing much was said about Tsholotsho’s preparations.

Harare City even held a two-day seminar to teach their players the rules of the game and it’s clear they are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to win this year’s league championship.

They unveiled a ‘professional set-up’ late last year of technical staff in different categories ranging from the first team to juniors and scouting.

Such a set-up is actually a first in Zimbabwe.

While they might argue that such a set-up is to guarantee the future of the club by creating a clear pipeline for player development, from juniors to the first team, it puts immense pressure on the head coach, Taurai Mangwiro, to perform and bring glory.

To me, Mangwiro is the number one coach in the blast furnace.

Coaches in a similar situation are FC Platinum’s Norman Mapeza, Triangle’s Kelvin Kaindu, How Mine’s Luke Masomere, Chicken Inn’s Joey Antipas and ZPC’s Saul Chaminuka.

These coaches are at clubs that have a stable financial backing.

They can’t use the lack of finances as an excuse for failing to perform.

Norman Mapeza ranks on the same level as Mangwiro in terms of high expectations placed on them to win the league championship this season.

The stable environment at FC Platinum and Mapeza’s high profile are a perfect match for high expectations to challenge for league honours.

The current FC Platinum squad is worlds apart from the one we had when they made their Premiership debut in 2011.

Then, it was assembled from high-profile players and coaches whose egos matched the financial muscle the club displayed.

Now, the club has turned to young and modest players and a level-headed coach whose passion for the game is matched by few in this country.

The depth and quality of Mapeza’s squad is comparable to a few.

That, compounded by the run he had last season when he took over, justifies the high expectations that are being placed on him to land the league title for the Midlands-based club.

Mapeza and Mangwiro share first class accommodation in the blast furnace.

After five games, Mapeza is under immense pressure after posting indifferent results in the league and the team’s humiliating exit from the CAF Confederations Cup.

Close to Mapeza and Mangwiro is Luke Masomere, who crossed the floor to How Mine last season, which means that he is no longer new at the club.

He did his familiarisation last season.

How Mine gave Masomere an open cheque to acquire players of his choice and he responded by bringing in experienced and quality players.

The age range of the players he has in his squad shows that the club is not looking further for success.

Theirs is a short-term outlook.

And that places him a cabin below Mapeza and Mangwiro in the blast furnace.

A level below is the trio of Antipas, Chaminuka and Kaindu.

For Antipas, the club seems comfortable with just a respectable finish. Chicken Inn doesn’t strike me as an ambitious club.

They always blow hot and cold and you can’t really find a label to give them.

They are neither title contenders nor relegation fighters.

They are just there.

A top four finish is a bonus for Chicken Inn and if the team finishes in the top eight, Antipas would be guaranteed continued employment come next season.

ZPC were a surprise package last season only to be beaten at the finishing line by Dynamos.

Instead of building from there, they got involved in unnecessary contractual disputes with players and members of the technical team.

If the team doesn’t perform well this season, blame is more likely to be put on the club’s executive than on Chaminuka.

If Chaminuka is to be fired this season it would be for some boardroom squabbles than footballing reasons.

Kaindu is a coach I have lots of respect for and I would like to see him fight for honours year in year out.

He came in and saved Triangle from relegation last season.

Obviously, more is expected from him this season but Triangle remains a modest club and their ambitions don’t go above a top eight finish.

Yes, they will aim for a top four finish but if they finish in the top eight they would not grumble.

Then we have the Zimbabwe’s Big Three — Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United.

A head coach position at any of these clubs is a hot seat at any given time.

Pressure comes from the stature of the clubs, from the executives and mostly from the supporters of these clubs.

Just by being coach of the Big Three, Mark Harrison, David Mandigora and Bongani Mafu find themselves sharing accommodation in the first class of the blast furnace with Mapeza and Mangwiro.

As for Harrison and Mafu, they have their jobs cut out for them already.

They just have to stop Dynamos’ dominance.

Dynamos have dominated CAPS and Highlanders as well as Zimbabwean football in the past four years and the two clubs’ supporters are a frustrated lot.

Harrison has come into uncharted territory and the only way he can win the hearts of the CAPS fans is by winning games, especially beating Dynamos.

He has done that once, albeit through a penalty shootout, and it has proved to be a fluke for two reasons.

First, it happened in the same week that he started training the team and it’s unlikely he had by then impressed his tactics on his team.

Secondly, CAPS didn’t beat Dynamos in open play and that fact was put to rest by the two successive loses they suffered at the hands of Dynamos in open play after their penalty shootout triumph.

Harrison should be one person who should take playing Dynamos seriously even if it’s a computer game because the consequences of losing might be dire.

Highlanders have in the first place, shown little confidence in Mafu, by offering him a one-year deal in a rebuilding exercise.

His continued presence at Highlanders is based on how he performs this season and to an average Bosso supporter, that means stopping Dynamos dominance over them.

Anything less would be unacceptable.

Talk of either Mafu being fired or demoted are already rife in the rumour mill, after only five games.

The club’s supporters have already registered their disappointment with the club authorities.

Besides the peaceful march to the club’s offices recently, violent clashes have been witnessed at Highlanders games this season.

Mandigora has the support of the Dynamos board and executive but lacks the trust of the supporters.

On his (Mandigora) part, pressure comes from the fact that Dynamos has had four successive years of total dominance in the domestic league and anything less would be a bitter pill for them to swallow.

Then there is the contingent of coaches who would find themselves in the firing line if they don’t show good signs of fighting relegation in the early stages of the season.

These are Tsholotsho’s Lizwe Sweswe, Flame Lily’s Nesbert Saruchera, Dongo Sawmills’ Shadreck Maguraushe, Whawha’s Lloyd Mutasa and whoever would be Buffaloes’ new coach.

 Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the e-mail — [email protected]