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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza reckons Premiership new boys Simba Bhora are one of the best-assembled teams in the league and will accord them the same respect they give traditional giants like Dynamos when they meet in the season-opening match at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.

Mapeza’s men, who have won the last four league titles on the trot, are among the favourites in what promises to be a highly competitive campaign.

They flexed their muscle again last week when they beat Bulawayo Chiefs to win a fourth straight Castle Challenge Cup at Mandava.

But ahead of the first match in defence of their league title, the former Zimbabwe international is not taking anything for granted and at the same time not entertaining the thought of his players taking a casual approach against the new boys in their first ever Premiership game.

Mapeza recognises there has been so much activity during the pre-season and the Shamva-based side were not left out in the rush as they reinforced their squad to meet the Premiership demands in their debut campaign.  This pre-season scramble has had the 2022 Coach of the Year rethink the approach by his team tomorrow.

“What is important for us is just go there with a positive mind; give Simba Bhora the respect they deserve; take them just like any other top club in the Premier League and then we see what happens at the end of the day. “Otherwise if we are going with this casual approach, it’s football. We could leave that place, maybe not on good talking terms with everybody, meaning myself, the players and all.

“So we want to go there with a very good positive mentality. The same desire that we showed when we played Bulawayo Chiefs (in the Castle Challenge Cup), is the same hunger that I want to see on Saturday,” said Mapeza.

Simba Bhora have transformed their team in a big way. They reshuffled their coaching department, bringing in former Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya and a host of players with Premiership experience, including ex-DeMbare captain Partson Jaure.

The newboys have also flexed their muscles with the acquisition of players such as former Zimbabwe international Talent Chawapihwa, ex-Dynamos captain Partson Jaure, Blessing Moyo, Keith Murera ex-CAPS United man Valentine Musarurwa, Hugh Chikosa who was at Bulawayo Chiefs last season, former ZC Kariba striker Vassili Kawe and teenage forward Alex Mandinyenya, who joined from relegated Harare City.

Their latest recruit is Tichaona Chipunza, a former Zimbabwe international who has had topflight experience with Triangle, Dynamos, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Chicken Inn, Nkana FC of Zambia and lately CAPS United.

 The club also has retained experienced players that helped them win promotion from the ZIFA Northern Region Soccer League last season.

These include former DeMbare and CAPS United players like Ronald ‘Rooney’ Chitiyo, defender Webster Tafa, goalkeeper Simbarashe Chinani and Tinashe Balakasi, who scored a record 29 goals in the second-tier league to help Simba Bhora achieve their dream of bringing topflight football to Shamva for the first time.

“We are facing a very good side and I think everybody knows exactly what they have been doing in the pre-season. They have beefed up their squad. They are one of the best assembled teams in the league at the moment. So, it’s not going to be easy for us when we go to Harare,” said Mapeza.

“Look, the majority of the players who got the team promoted into the Premier League are no longer there. And if you look at it, it looks like most of the guys that left Dynamos, some of them have joined coach Ndiraya over there.

“So it’s not going to be easy playing them because the majority of the guys know what Ndiraya wants. But if it had been the guys that played in Division One last year, maybe we would be saying, maybe we can go and get something out of it.  Like, I said some of the guys played for Dynamos before, so we have to up our game,” said Mapeza.

Nonetheless, FC Platinum are the team to beat again this year after the Zvishavane side maintained the structure of the conquering squad of last season.

They added only three new players to beef up their stocks. The platinum miners signed former Dynamos and Cranborne Bullets winger Jarrison Selemani, ex-Triangle United fullback Misheck Ngwenya and Perfect Chikwende, who is returning to Zvishavane after two years.

The arrival of Jarrison has sparked debate among the fans, with some from DeMbare feeling their team made a mistake in letting the Aces Youth Soccer Academy graduate go to Cranborne Bullets at the end of 2021, and only to merge at FC Platinum this season.

The 25-year-old was in devastating form last week when he produced a Man-of-the-Match performance to lead his team to the Castle Challenge Cup against Bulawayo Chiefs.

The lanky winger thrives mostly on his pace down the flanks, dribbling, shooting and intelligent off-the-ball movement.