Zimpapers Logo

Knowledge Musona

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
ENGLISH Championship side Queens Park Rangers are still wondering how their attempts to give Zimbabwe international striker Knowledge Musona a chance to revive his career in Europe collapsed during the off-season in June and July. The ambitious London side wanted Musona as a direct replacement of highly rated Frenchman Loic Remy and while they have had a flying start to life in the Championship, they are still reeling from how they let this top target slip through their fingers.

QPR have won five of their first six league matches, drawing the other, and are in second place with the same number of points (16) as leaders Blackpool.

The 23-year-old forward ended up returning to his old club, Kaizer Chiefs, on a one-year loan deal after two difficult seasons in the Bundesliga where his star failed to shine during spells at TSG Hoffenheim and Augusburg.

Musona was targeted by Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp, who wanted to give him a chance to be part of his ambitious project to take the club back into the English Premiership after just one season in the second-tier Championship.

QPR manager Redknapp has always kept his window open for the possibility of signing a Zimbabwean footballer after initially being impressed by Norman Mapeza when he invited him for trials during his time at West Ham United.

Mapeza was offered a deal by Redknapp but could not secure a work permit.
During this off-season, Redknapp also gave veteran Zimbabwe defender Dickson Choto a chance to show that he had the pedigree to play for a club like QPR and he trained with the first team for a number of days.

However, Choto was not offered a deal.
Authoritative sources told The Herald last night that the officials at QPR were still wondering how Musona escaped from their net when they appeared to dangle the better carrot to him that a change of league from the Bundesliga to the English Championship would help him rediscover the form that impressed a host of European clubs during his initial spell at Kaizer Chiefs.

With Remy opting to stay in the English Premiership, on loan at Newcastle, Redknapp felt Musona could come and provide the buzz that the French forward gave his frontline and tried to get the Zimbabwean over to England and give him a chance.

“There is disappointment that this deal didn’t happen and it’s an issue that is still causing concern even up to now because everything appeared set and at one stage, it felt that it was just a question of time that this would be a done deal because the communication lines were very official and the club wanted him to come,” said the sources.

“We felt it was a great chance for him to revive his career in Europe, which had stalled in the first two seasons in Germany, and the English Championship is quite competitive and there was a feeling he would find it easier to settle where he didn’t have to learn a new language.
“The English game is also very direct and there is a lot of pace and that appeared to suit Knowledge and that is why the red carpet was being laid down and all that was needed was for him to walk on it and grab his chance.

“But somehow things didn’t go according to plan, which was quite a huge disappointment for all the people who were involved in trying to make this work, and he ended up coming back to Africa to play for his old team.

“There are a lot of conflicting reports as to why he didn’t end up at QPR with one camp saying that he preferred to go back to a place where he was comfortable he could get his game back in order again and he felt he could do that at Chiefs.

“But I think you can agree with me that all the top players in the Chiefs team today will consider it a huge leap, in terms of their career, should they get a chance to break into a team like QPR and one of them (Siphiwe Tshabalala) even tried his luck, not so long ago, at Nottingham Forest, who are now in the same league as QPR.”

Musona initially struggled to make an immediate impact on his return to Chiefs but appears to have found his touch, after opening his goal-scoring account in the win over Maritzburg United, before failing to make it two goals in as many games in the goalless draw against Bloemfontein Celtic last night.

His fellow countryman, Cuthbert Malajila, scored his second league goal on the road, in as many matches, for Mamelodi Sundowns, when he fired home the equaliser, in the final 10 minutes of the match in Cape Town, in a 2-2 draw against Ajax Cape Town.

Zimbabwe international goalkeeper Tapiwa Kapini’s schoolboy blunder, in the dying moments, gifted Bidvest Wits a 1-1 draw against Amazulu.

But the spotlight remains on Musona, given that he is the prized asset in the Warriors’ attack, and revelations that he had a chance to move to QPR, during the off-season, will once again revive the debate surrounding the merit, or lack of it, of his move back to South Africa.
Former Zimbabwe international George Mbwando, who spent a lengthy spell in Germany, described Musona’s decision to return to Super Diski as a shock backward move that will not help his career.

“I was as shocked as I was disappointed with Knowledge’s decision to go back to Kaizer Chiefs.
“It is retrogressive, how can you go back to high school when you have reached university?” said Mbwando.

“I know that at times it might not be easy to adjust to a new and tougher environment, but it was not hell for Musona.
“Even if he could not play regularly in the Bundesliga he could have tried to have a season or two in the Second or even Third Division and I know that he would have bounced back into the Bundesliga a far much better player.

“With all due respect, I don’t see how playing in South Africa will improve him or prepare him for European football when he has already been in Europe and knows what is required. All he needed to do was soldier on a little and I know that there are a number of clubs in Germany that saw the qualities in him and were interested so he was never going to struggle to find a team. He needs to return to Europe before it is too late.”

Former Warriors coach Klaus Dieter Pagels also questioned Musona’s decision to return to the comfort zone of South Africa.
“The standards in the Bundesliga are obviously higher than the South African league.

“He still has a five-year contract and should go back after a year in South Africa, but if he doesn’t, then it would be tricky for him to make it into Europe again,’’ Pagels said.