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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter—
CHAMPIONS Dynamos have axed coach David “Yogi” Mandigora, with the club’s leadership saying they felt the Glamour Boys were falling short in their quest for immortality by grabbing a fifth straight Premiership title. Mandigora’s assistant Tonderai Ndiraya takes over as interim coach of the country’s biggest football club until the end of the season.

Ndiraya’s first game in charge will be against bitter rivals Highlanders in the Commander ZNA Charities Shield final at Rufaro tomorrow.

Interestingly, Mandigora had told the media on Thursday that he would field a full-strength team for that game.

His dismissal is likely to boost interest in the match among the Dynamos fans, many of whom feel that he was the one letting their beloved team down.

The Herald predicted in January this year that Mandigora would fail at Dynamos, with our pundit Bothwell Mahlengwe even equating him to David Moyes, who came short when he was appointed to fill the big shoes left by Sir Alex Ferguson.

While Moyes, at least, lasted 10 months at Manchester United, Mangidora lasted only seven at the Glamour Boys.

He has cast a lonely figure of late, unwanted by the fans who felt that he wasn’t the right man for the job, while the leadership, which stood by him in the past, was now losing confidence in him.

Speculation was rife in the capital yesterday that DeMbare were heading for a reunion with Callisto Pasuwa, the man who guided them to four straight league titles, before their relationship ended unceremoniously at the beginning of the year.

Pasuwa will be out of a job tonight when he calls time on his turbulent spell as Young Warriors and Warriors coach after running out of patience with ZIFA, who have failed to pay him for his services despite impressive results.

He remains popular with the DeMbare fans, who still feel that he should be given another stint at the helm of the Glamour Boys.

For now, Ndiraya will be assisted by Gift “Umbro” Muzadzi, who also doubles up as goalkeepers’ coach, while Richard Chihoro remains the team manager.

Mandigora was fired on Tuesday night after failing to give satisfactory answers during a meeting with the executive committee led by Kenny Mubaiwa on the direction his team was taking in the championship race.

Mubaiwa, however, said the decision to relieve Mandigora of his duties was not based on emotions.

DeMbare had given Mandigora the mandate to win the league championship this year and the leadership at the club felt the coach has performed below expectations after failing to meet the 30-point mid-season target, he was handed when he took up the job at the beginning of the season.

Mandigora inherited the hot seat amid fears that he would not match the high standards set by Pasuwa who had won four successive championships with the Glamour Boys.

Dynamos have struggled this year and the management was apparently incensed when the team lost considerable ground in the championship race because of the spate of draws in recent matches. DeMbare have only won once in their last seven league matches, a controversial victory over bitter rivals Highlanders.

Mubaiwa said the league title remains their target, but so far results under Mandigora were not promising.

The team is currently sitting fourth on the log standings with 29 points from 17 games, three behind log leaders Triangle.

“We had a meeting where we called the head coach David Mandigora and asked him some questions pertaining to the poor results that the team was posting,” said Mubaiwa.

“We were not satisfied by his answers and then decided to fire him.

“Initially when we signed a contract with him we had stipulated that we wanted 30 points from 15 games; that did not happen.

“Now we have played 17 games and still he didn’t get to 30 points. So, to us that meant coming short.”

DeMbare have managed to collect three points in just one of their last seven matches, with the rest being stalemates. This means they have collected only nine points from a possible 21.

The breaking point was the 1-1 stalemate at Highlanders, which was their eighth draw of the season in 17 games. Mandigora told reporters after the match on Sunday that he was also getting worried by the stalemates.

It appears pressure was weighing him down as he was never fully embraced by the Dynamos faithful.

Mandigora was always under the spotlight and at times the supporters would demonstrate calling for his dismissal and chanting songs denouncing the coach.

Mubaiwa said they were not expecting anything less than the league championship this year since their goal was to play in the CAF Champions League next season.

He pointed out the executive has gone out of their way this year to satisfy the demands of the technical side by providing resources for the team to perform well.

The DeMbare president said the head coach should take responsibility for the results on the pitch since he was well-equipped with players.

The DeMbare executive now expect to see a change of fortunes following the decision to reshuffle the technical side.

Mubaiwa said they signed a number of players that the coaches had requested at the beginning of the season and have also brought in Takesure Chinyama, Roderick Mutuma, Richard Kawondera and Zivanai Mhanda during the mid-season transfer window.