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Sports Reporter
MUCH-travelled coach Godfrey Tamirepi is set to revive his romance with Premiership side ZPC Kariba after he was shortlisted to take over the job that fell vacant at the end of the season.

The 47-year-old mentor is set to replace veteran Sunday Chidzambwa, who chose not to renew his contract under a dark cloud. Sources told The Herald that Tamirepi will be assisted by former Hwange coach Mebelo Njekwa while Chenjerai Dube comes in as goalkeepers’ trainer.

Ex-Zimbabwe midfielder Kennedy Nagoli completes the technical bench in his new capacity as the team manager. ZPC Kariba are expected to make an official announcement in the coming days. Tamirepi, who has also coached several clubs in Botswana and Swaziland, is returning to Kariba three years after he had worked with the team as assistant to Saul Chaminuka.

He had also previously coached former Premiership side Hardbody. But three years after his last stint in Kariba, he has been given the thumps up to return. ZPC Kariba have been hunting for a new technical team since last year when Chidzambwa indicated that he was not renewing his contract following a disappointing season in which they finished 10th.

The electricity men had exuded massive potential in the first half of the season, but their fortunes took a turn for the worse amid revelations in a leaked audio which suggested that the outgoing coach Chidzambwa’s relationship with the executive had irretrievably broken down. There were allegations of sabotaging the technical team which also had Brenna Msiska and Paul Chimalizeni.

The club had hoped to lure Lloyd Chitembwe from CAPS United, but their advances failed to bear fruit as the 2016 Coach of the Year chose to continue with his project at the Green Machine whom he helped win the title two years ago and ending an 11-year drought in the process.

Former Motor Action and Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas, ex-Gunners mentor Darlington Dodo and Rodwell Dhlakama were also reported to be on the radar, but the side settled for their former assistant coach Tamirepi to return to Nyamhunga to spearhead their revival.

Tamirepi was assistant coach at ZPC Kariba in 2014, when the team went all the way under Chaminuka and nearly won the championship. They, however, floundered on the last day of the campaign when they lost to CAPS United in the last match. The coaches were then fired early into the following season after a poor start and reports of squabbling between the technical team and the leadership.