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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

LLOYD Chitembwe is a fighter who does not give up easily. 

He has been like that from his playing days. He fits the bill of club legend at CAPS United, having been the only one to win the Premiership football title three times with the Green Machine — thrice as a player and later on as coach. 

The love he has for the club and the way he persevered with CAPS United in good and bad times is quite remarkable.

That he gave up a lucrative contract with Harare City recently to come back and lead a CAPS United side that had well-documented financial challenges was an incredible sacrifice on his part.

CAPS United were struggling under his predecessor Darlington Dodo when he was called back by club president Farai Jere. 

And, a few games into his tenure, the first signs that the usual problems were still to be resolved began to show. 

First they conceded six goals in a game against modest Manica Diamonds, something very much unlike Makepekepe. 

Then the players mooted a boycott ahead of their match against Cranborne Bullets, which they went on to lose to the Premiership new boys at the National Sports Stadium, in the run up to the current run of seven defeats on the trot. 

Last Sunday’s 0-1 defeat by ZPC Kariba was a new low for the giants. It is an unwanted record. It has never happened in the history of the Green Machine. The only other time that they came closer to such a lean phase was in 2012 when they suffered six straight losses. 

But now, to think it has been 13 weeks since they last tasted victory, with the win over Yadah, is a bitter pill for the fans and other key stakeholders. 

Only last week, the club had an all-stakeholders meeting in which they had frank discussions on challenges facing the club. But there was no immediate response from the team. 

Obviously, after losing so many games on the bounce, it is not easy to bounce back at once. The body language from the players and the post-match sentiments by Chitembwe said it all after the loss to ZPC Kariba. 

“It’s very deflecting and disappointing. From the result view point, I thought it’s extremely disappointing. I think this will obviously rank amongst one of the poorest phases of my football career,” said Chitembwe. 

During this lean spell, Makepekepe have scored only one goal in seven outings or in 630 minutes of continuous football. They conceded 14, which means they shipped in an average of two goals in every game. 

Like Chitembwe said, such a run is deflating for any coach. Any coach in his position would have thrown in the towel to safeguard his professional integrity or better still would have been shown the exit by the employers. Football is about results. 

But it seems Chitembwe and CAPS United’s relationship is built on rock. 

It is amazing Chitembwe still finds the energy to continue despite the challenges and the Green Machine management have reciprocated by maintaining confidence in him. 

Makepekepe are still hopeful of a turn around. Chitembwe is the same coach who won their last title in 2016, after an 11-year drought. 

He had also won it thrice as a player in 1996, 2004 and 2005. “What we need to do is to just continue working on the same aspects,” said Chitembwe. 

“Football aspects are just the same. What we need to do is to just keep working on the belief that we can win a game.

“And when you start to win a game then you stand a chance of winning more and this is what we really need to work on. 

“We just need to have that belief. If we can’t have that then it becomes very difficult. I think going forward the team needs to work on that aspect.” 

While the Green Machine are struggling in the bottom half, after slumping into the relegation mix on 14th place, cross town rivals Dynamos are also experiencing their woes at the top. 

DeMbare suffered a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Yadah on Saturday, a few days after the PSL Disciplinary Committee had ruled they forfeited their match against Highlanders on a 0-3 scoreline because of crowd trouble. 

They have lost considerable ground in the title race as they are now four points adrift of leaders Chicken Inn, who beat Cranborne Bullets 4-1 at the weekend.

Chicken Inn lead the pack with 38 points, with defending champions FC Platinum consolidated their place in second place with 37 points, following their 2-0 win away to Tenax. 

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya is feeling the heat as the championship race enters second round matches but has maintained he will not press the panic button. 

“We still have time. Of course there are going to be ups and downs but it’s always not good to drop points especially when you are among the leading pack.

“We have to maintain our place among the top by fighting and by having that will. So it’s something that we really need to go back and work on. The intrinsic motivation was not there and it’s also something that we need to correct when we go back to training. 

“A lot of ups and downs are going to happen. We are going to be playing teams in the top five in our next four matches. So it’s something which we have control over and it’s a challenge we must take. What is important at this time of the season is to collect points,” said Ndiraya.