FORMER Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints coach Bongani Mafu has vowed to lead Mochudi Centre Chiefs to a credible position in the Botswana Premier League come the end of the season.  

 

Mochudi went into the festive season break on a relegation position 13 out of 16 teams with three wins out of 10 matches, which has seen them draw three times and suffer four losses. If they do not improve when the league resumes next month, they might be relegated come the end of the season.  Mochudi are still to be awarded points for a walkover against Gilport Lions. Madinda Ndlovu’s Orapa United are on top of the log with 24 points. Mochudi ended the year with a come from behind 2-1 victory over Police XI Otse Stadium.

 

One of Mafu’s three wins came against fierce rivals Township Rollers whom him side defeated 3-2 at the National Stadium in what is the biggest club football fixture in Botswana.

 

Mafu pointed out that his mandate when he joined Mochudi in August was that he should keep the team in the right direction while introducing new players. What has made it tough is that the Botswana league is mainly made up of experienced players with up and coming talent not getting a chance to excel.

 

“We are seriously looking to strength the team because at the beginning of the season my mandate was to keep the team afloat and blood the new boys, we had many youngsters but the Botswana League is a seniors player’s league. Most of the teams have old people, it is more about winning that game, everyone plays to win, youngsters played good football but for the wrong reasons, they played to enjoy, playing for Mochudi Centre Chiefs is nice which is the project they had mandated me to do but it didn’t bring results,’’ said Mafu.

 

Poor results have seen Mochudi struggle to attract crowds at their home matches which has had a negative effect on their finances. Mochudi lost most of their senior players to other teams who offered better financial packages.

 

“Our new impetus is that we are not far off it, why not go for it, without good results, we are short of supporters, the club has got no financial clout we don’t have a sponsor  and if we want to get anything it has to come from the field of play which brings in supporters and investors. This is a team that reached its maturity last year, stars retired, the best of the best were sold, the big spenders their top scorers were part of Mochudi last year because of money they left,’’ Mafu said.

 

With the international transfer window opening up in January, Mafu is trying to lure Chicken Inn striker Obadiah Tarumbwa, a player he worked with at Highlanders. While Mochudi have been made to believe that Tarumbwa’s contract with the 2015 Zimbabwean champions has expired, indications are that he is still tied down at the Gamecocks for at least another year.

 

“We looked at Obadiah Tarumbwa but we are not so sure of his desire to leave Zimbabwe, we were interested in his services, we were made to understand that his contract had expired, you never get the truth out of the players, it seems he is not really up for it so we are looking at somebody else.

 

"We are looking in Zimbabwe, looking at goal getters, we are not looking at a player like Prince Dube, I am not looking for a youngster that’s going to learn his ropes, you learn your ropes in Zimbabwe, in Botswana you go there to push and shove. I need a mature player who is going to get there and be focused on getting a result.  I have always thought given an opportunity to bring in a foreigner my first option is a Zimbabwean, I don’t hide that and then I can look elsewhere if I cannot get an ideal person,’’ he said.

 

Mafu signed on loan two players from Bulawayo Chiefs, Stanley Ngala as well as Remmington Masuku but it seems the two have not really impressed and might be released back to their club.

 

The Zimbabwean coach has had to work under tough conditions as factions are fighting for control of the Gaborone based club with the matter still in court. He however believes that coaching Highlanders has made him tougher and be able to deal with such situations. Mafu has vowed to fight hard to get the team to end the season in a better position than they are now.

 

“It’s always not an easy environment to work with, for me it is a beautiful learning curve. We have had situations where we arrive and the training pitch has not been paid for and we are sent away. One game we didn’t train and we lost 2-0, I decided not talk about the game, I decided to talk about myself instead. Coaching Mochudi has been eye opening, having coached Highlanders nothing comes as a shock to me anymore, that’s sets you up to deal with more situations. We need to go back and work very hard to get ourselves in a better position, we are a club that should be fighting for honours honestly speaking, we are a club that has got passionate supporters, it is not going to be easy,’’ Mafu said.

 

The Botswana Premier League resumes on 14 January and Mafu is hoping for even better fortunes as he seeks to turn around Mochudi’s disastrous start to the season.

 

@Mdawini_29