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Mukudzei Chingwere Sports Reporter
SHABANIE Mine have appointed unheralded coach Alexio Sijoni to take charge of the team for the remainder of the season after having failed to secure the services of coach Moses “Bambo” Chunga. Chunga looked certain to take over the coaching responsibilities at the Chinda Boys following the unexpected departure of Takesure Chiragwi.

The former Dynamos gaffer watched the asbestos miners league match against Herentals in the capital last week from the terraces, which was preceded by two meetings with the Shabanie Mine leadership.
However, after meeting Bambo, the impoverished Zvishavane side realised they do not have the capacity to employ him and settled for the little-known Sijoni.

Yesterday, club chairman Tavaziva Mhloro confirmed the appointment of the former DC Academy gaffer to lead the team for the remainder of the season.
“Sjoni is now the coach of the team.
“We have agreed that he will be in charge until the end of the season.

“We are confident that he has the capacity to take the team forward.
“His objective is to survive relegation and we are confident he will.
“Yes, we talked to some coaches, including Chunga, before we gave him (Sijoni) the job, but we were looking at a number of things and I think Sijoni is the right candidate.

“It is no secret that we have a very small budget and we looked at all those things before we could settle for our preferred coach. But, like I said, we have confidence in Sijoni to be a success at this club,” said Mhloro.
The chairman also addressed reports that their in-form striker David Temwanjira has agreed to join Premiership rivals ZPC Kariba.

“I do not think he is going there and any reports linking him to ZPC Kariba are not true, they might have informally approached him, but what I know is that he is our player.

“Even the player himself, I do not think he would like to play locally when some foreign clubs have expressed interest in his services,” said Mhloro.