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Grace Chingoma

Senior Sports Reporter

DYNAMOS legend Moses “Bambo’’ Chunga believes the failure by the Castle Lager Premiership football club to tie down players to longer contracts is contributing to the poor fortunes that have seen the club go for six seasons without winning a league title.

The Glamour Boys’ slim chances of winning the league went up in smoke over the weekend when they lost at home to Ngezi Platinum Stars.

DeMbare last won the league title in 2014 under the tutelage of Callisto Pasuwa. They are 11 points adrift of pacesetters FC Platinum.

DeMbare also bowed out of the Chibuku Super Cup tournament two weeks ago to sum up another barren season for the team.

And speaking to The Herald yesterday, Chunga said there was a need for continuity at the club.

“Since 2014, I don’t think we have really assembled a team, I mean a team that can play year in and year out with the same players. We are not giving players longer contracts and this affects the team’s performance,” said Chunga.

“The world’s best teams are built around the best players. But that is a different scenario at the club right now. Players just use the club as a stepping stone to further their careers. Dynamos should make it a rule that anyone who wants to play for DeMbare should have at least a two-year-contract.

“At the moment we are subsidising other institutions since players are moving more often. This tends to affect continuity and rhythm of the team,” he said.

Chunga, who still holds the landmark feat of scoring 46 goals in one season, feels that as long as the club doesn’t have good strikers it would be difficult to reclaim their former status.

“How can the team win the league if they don’t have prolific strikers? If we combine their top three strikers their goal tally will not surpass the 15-goal mark,” said Chunga.

Interestingly, the top three attackers at the club have a combined 15 goals.

Dynamos forward Emmanuel Paga has nine goals while Bill Antonio left for Belgium recently after he had scored three goals. King Nadolo is the third best scorer at the club with two goals.

“Some of these players donning the jerseys at the club are below average. I believe there are more competent players in the league who can wear that jersey with pride.”

Chunga, who won the league title as a coach with the now-defunct Premiership side Gunners in 2009, believes that his club can realise their full potential next season if they have tidy business during the pre-season.

“We have to start preparing for next season and come back stronger. There are lots of time to prepare, once the current season ends. We need to put our house in order on the pitch and in the boardroom and solve the ownership wrangle through the arbitration process with Bernard Marriot. I believe DeMbare will be great again,’’ said Chunga.

Turning to the dominance of FC Platinum, Chunga feels that Dynamos and other traditional big teams such as Highlanders and CAPS United are contributing to the league’s declining standards. “A weaker DeMbare, a weaker Highlanders and a weaker CAPS United are in a way aiding the success of FC Platinum. I am not saying the dominance by FC Platinum is not deserved. They are the better side among average teams and this is why we are struggling when it comes to the African Safari.

“Back then we knew that local teams would go all the way in the Champions League, and we even had a period where we enjoyed two slots, courtesy of Dynamos’ competitiveness on the continent,” said Chunga.

He added that the relegation puzzle was always for small teams like WhaWha and Tenax.

“Tenax and WhaWha, personally I believe that they were relegated before they even kick-started the league campaign. I say so because with zero budget what would you be hoping to achieve?

“These teams are also weakened by the fact that they don’t have separate administration for football and the larger organisation where they come from.

“As a country, if we are serious about the growth of our football we must fully implement the CAF club licensing. This will help us to understand football and its structures because some of these clubs or administrators who are in these positions don’t have a full appreciation of how football is administered or how players should be treated,” said Chunga.