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Sunday Chidzambwa

Tedious Manyepo and Paul Mundandi
VETERAN coach Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa’s future appears to have finally been settled with the former Warriors coach having now been offered a contract extension at Premiership side ZPC Kariba.

There had been growing speculation that Chidzambwa was on the verge of leaving Kariba following indications that the ZPC Kariba executive seemed to bicker on the coach’s fate.

Chidzambwa’s initial two year deal expires on December 31.

But with just days before the end of the year, and with ZPC Kariba not making any public pronouncement on the coach, speculation grew that Chidzambwa’s time with the electricity men could have been up.

ZPC Kariba, however, ended the speculation yesterday with the head of Corporate Affairs for Zimbabwe Power Company Fadzai Chisveto telling The Herald that they would extend the coach’s tenure with the club.

Zimbabwe Power Company bankroll ZPC Kariba.

Chisveto said they were confident that Chidzambwa would deliver in the 2017 season.

The ZPC head of corporate affairs also made it clear that the 2014 Premiership runners-up were now targeting the league championship.

“We are in the process of deliberating on the issue of contracts and these will be finalised in the first week of January 2017.

“We have not really taken long to renew them as such because they expire on the 31st of December, hence we believe we are on course.

“We decided to give Chidzambwa (Sunday) another spell with the team since we believe he is the man who can deliver the league title to the people of Kariba.

“We have been frustrated by not winning the league but if we look at things now, I think we are on the right path.

“We hired Chidzambwa (Sunday) mid-2015 and we finished 10th. This past season, we were sixth, that tells a story of a rising team and we are working towards the championship next season,” said Chisveto.

Chidzambwa, according to Chisveto will be given all the freedom to choose which players he wants to work with as the team will be out to exorcise their 2014 ghost which saw them lose the title to Dynamos on the last day of the season.

ZPC Kariba needed just a point on the final day of the 2014 season but they came a cropper against CAPS United in their last game while their closest rivals Dynamos beat How Mine to snatch the championship from under the electricity men’s noses.

Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa was in charge of Dynamos in that year while his national team assistant Saul Chaminuka was the ZPC Kariba coach.

With his ZPC Kariba future sealed, Chidzambwa is understood he had already begun hunting for more players to boost his squad.

It has emerged that the seasoned coach is interested in luring slippery forward Raphael Manuvire and centre-back Dennis Dauda back at ZPC Kariba. Manuvire is currently on the books of Harare City while 2014 Soccer Star of the Year Dauda is at champions CAPS United.

Samuel Makawa, who was on loan to Northern Region Division One side Kariba Waves also makes a return to the team.

Most of the senior players who did duty for Kariba team whose contracts are set to expire on December 31 are understood to have also agreed to sign new deals with the club with Chidzambwa having already indicated that he wants all of them next season.

Although Chidzambwa has been given a second bite of the cherry by the ZPC Kariba board, sources indicated that the coach will be under pressure from members of the club’s executive amid revelations that the trio of chairman Tungamirai Mazarire, secretary Robert Mamvura and treasurer Kwinyai Dzura were against extending the gaffer’s contract.

The fallout between the coach and the executive seems to have been triggered by Chidzambwa’s decision to retain such players like former Zimbabwe defender Thomas Sweswe, Protasho Kabwe and Elvis Meleka should his contract be extended.

The trios’ contracts will expire on December 31 but Chidzambwa wants to build his 2017 squad around them.