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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS interim coach Lloyd Chigowe has vowed that the Harare giants will not be relegated after he accepted the difficult challenge to save the ship from sinking.

Chigowe, who is assisted by DeMbare son Murape Murape, will begin his mission today with a tough away match at championship-chasing FC Platinum.

Dynamos sunk further into the relegation mix following a sterile goalless home draw against Bulawayo Chiefs on Wednesday and considering the gravity of the situation the giants find themselves in, there have been mixed feelings over the appointment of Chigowe to replace Lloyd Mutasa, with some sections questioning his track record.

“It’s an unenviable position to take over because obviously everybody expects a big improvement instantly.

“But we are going to give it our best shot. We will not sleep on the job.

“Dynamos must survive, as a matter of fact. Yes, other teams in the relegation mix like Nichrut have been doing well of late, but if we get our priorities right, I think we should be able to stay afloat. I think we should avoid defeat at all cost, by whatever means necessary,” said Chigowe.

The 54-year coach, who has a strong background with the juniors, is not new to Dynamos. He has worked with Mutasa earlier this year, but there was a fall out between the two coaches, leading to his demotion back to the junior structures where he teamed up with Murape. The duo now inherit a team that is currently sitting on unfamiliar 13th position with 31 points in the bag after 27 games. There are genuine chances of Dynamos getting relegated this year if they fail to recover in their last seven games.

DeMbare have not scored a goal in their last four league matches and they desperately need to start picking up points to escape to a position of safety as they are only one point away from the drop zone.

Chigowe said supporters should not expect instant miracles at Mandava this afternoon as the new technical department still needs to put in a lot of work to turn around the fortunes of the club. But it appears only a miracle will be able to convince the Dynamos supporters to believe again.

“It’s a humdinger of a match for us. Obviously you can see that we have just taken over, we have not even managed to infuse the kind of philosophy we would like our players to have, but we are up to the task. More than ever before, we need the supporters’ presence.

“We need them to be with us. They must be like our shadow which follows us wherever we go and make the kind of noise that shakes the opposition such that we march together and survive as one,” said Chigowe.

Dynamos chairman Isaiah Mupfurutsa also urged the players to keep focused on surviving the chop. He said the leadership was working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the Glamour Boys live to fight another day, hence the decision to fire Mutasa and his lieutenants Joseph Takaringofa and Zondai Nyaungwa.

But whether Dynamos have the right material in terms of playing personnel to save them from the impending humiliation is a question for another day. Mupfurutsa still expects positive responses from their charges.

“The players are just like soldiers, they can go into any battle. I was actually pleased by their reaction. I could see their body language and their facial expressions. Some of them are very experienced and even those that are not very experienced have been in soccer before and they know such things happen.

“And given the way the team has been performing, I think to some of them they realised it was imminent. So I don’t think it came as a shock to them,” said Mupfurutsa.

Dynamos face a difficult afternoon against the reigning champions who are keen to bounce back to winning ways following the disappointing 1-3 defeat to Triangle last week.