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Ray Bande Mutare Bureau
CHIPINGE-BORN former Highlanders striker Eddie Dube, who strongly believes that the Bulawayo giants could have easily won yesterday’s Battle of Zimbabwe with a little bit of luck and sober match officiating at Rufaro, says his heart bleeds for Bosso given the Bulawayo giants’ recent below average performance in the 2017 Castle Lager Premiership League season.

Struggling Bosso, who are searching for their first league title since 2006, settled for a 1-1 stalemate against Dynamos at Rufaro in the capital yesterday in an emotive and incident-filled league encounter.

Highlanders’ Dutch coach Erol Akbay has since made it clear that he will walk out of Bosso at the end of the season after frustrations emanating from the club’s financial troubles.

The mentor is in the last four months of an initial two-year contract, but he has already made up his mind that he will not be open to renewing the contract with Bosso.

Accusations and counter accusations of lack of professionalism have been the order of the day between the technical department head and the executive.

However, under the tutelage of coach Rahman Gumbo, the former Warriors’ utility player won the only league title in his career with Bosso back in 2001 in a star studded Highlanders squad that featured the likes of Eddie “Tastic Rice” Nyika, Thulani “Biya” Ncube, Johanes Ngodzo, Sauso Phiri, Dazzy Kapenya, Sizabantu Khoza, Noel Kaseke and expatriate Charles “Chief” Chilufya, among many yesteryear stars.

The then bulky top man Dube, who partnered Sauso Phiri in a predatory striking combination back then, also won a number of cup competitions with Highlanders including the Dairibord Charity Shield against Dynamos.

Arguably the most successful player to emerge in a popular, yet small farming town known for other reasons other than the planet’s most beautiful game, Dube said the current leadership at Highlanders is also to blame for the mess at one of the country’s highly respected football institutions.

“I think something has gone terribly wrong at Highlanders. This is not what we knew about Highlanders. The team has changed for the worst in almost every aspect.

“Yes, they played well at Rufaro (yesterday) and they could have easily won that match against Dynamos. The match official was a bit heavy handed on Highlanders, especially when he failed to award a penalty and decided to give a yellow card to a striker, who had clearly been fouled while goal-bound. There are also other incidents that I felt the match official treated Highlanders badly.

“However, I am of the opinion that things are no longer the same at Bosso. The current executive has failed the team. They should just do the honourable thing of quitting without being told to do so. They are going to the extent of choosing assistants for the coach, which I think is not fair let alone professional.

“I will always respect the Highlanders football institution because I enjoyed my time there. This is why I am always hurt to see them falter. My heart bleeds. I remember we used to have an unwritten law that we could not be beaten twice in the league. That was something that we respected and I just wish if the lads there right now can emulate that. It used to be so exciting,” said the rickety former Gaza High School and Gaza Primary student in Chipinge.

But a lot has changed at Highlanders since the days of the former Buffaloes and Black Rhinos player especially in the 2017 Castel Lager Premiership season where the Bulawayo giants have been a pale shadow of the feared outfit they were in the past.

Highlanders lost Bruce Kangwa to Azam FC of Tanzania and Knox Mutizwa to Bidvest Wits in South Africa and this year, promising striker Prince Dube has joined SuperSport (South Africa) and the club has failed to bring in any new players in the mid-season transfer window.

Highlanders also lost Roderick Mutuma, who has since joined fellow PSL side Yadah FC.

Earlier before breaking the news of his departure, Akbay said players and agents were choosing clubs other than Highlanders because of the financial crisis at the club.

Thus Bosso are no longer part of the Castle Lager Premiership title jigsaw, at least for the 2017 season.