Sunday Chidzambgwa speaks on Dynamos’ relegation worries

By Auther Chimbgwa

Former Dynamos and ex-Zimbabwe national team coach Sunday Chidzambgwa says the troubled giants are not going to be relegated despite their shock drop in form that has seen them languish at the bottom rungs of the league table for many weeks and eliciting relegation fears among the club faithful.

In an exclusive interview with Zimstar News, Chidzambgwa said while he was equally concerned about Dynamos’ free fall, he remained optimistic the once dominant football club will not be relegated.

“It’s entirely unimaginable that Dynamos could find themselves playing division one football next season,” said Chidzambgwa who is currently coaching FC Porto, a junior Academy which has under 10 up to under 20s in Borrowdale, Harare.

Dynamos are an unfamiliar number 16 in Zimbabwe’s 18-team premier league with a measly nine points out of a possible 39, and have found the back of the net just four times in 13 matches while conceding 10 goals.

The country’s most successful club by the number of league titles won have also seen leadership squabbles with co-owner Bernard Marriot Lusengo being singled out for failure to invent modern strategies that would allow the team to withstand stiff competition from emerging football power houses such as Scottland, MWOS, Simba Bhora and FC Platinum.

Restless fans accuse the club leadership of failure to attract good sponsorship and sound junior football structures to give the senior team a wider choice to pick from.

“The team should speedily pay the US$18,500 owed to the two former Ghanaian players, Emmanuel Paga and Ansa Botchway, who reported them to FIFA, so that they could sign new players during the mid-season window period,” said Chidzambgwa.

Paga wants to be paid US$8,500 while Botchway wants US$10,000 in arrears that they are owed to them by Dynamos.

The two took their matter to FIFA after repeated efforts to get the money from their former club hit a brick wall.

If the Glamour Boys fail to pay the money before the midseason window period, this will result in stringent sanctions from the world football mother body such as not being able to sign new players, something that could hit the club hardest.

But Chidzambgwa was optimistic that Dynamos would pay the players the money.

Chidzambgwa, who made history by being the first Zimbabwean coach to qualify Zimbabwe to the Africa Cup of Nations Cup (AFCON) since independence in 2004, refused to delve deeper into Dynamos’s current woes describing them as “sensitive”.

Asked if he saw the big three, namely Dynamos, Highlanders and Caps United restoring their former glory days given the emergence of such teams like MWOS, Scottland and champions Simba Bhora, Chidzambgwa said that was still possible.

“Highlanders are okay; I don’t want to talk a lot about them. They can easily bounce back and be a force to reckon with once again.

“I also see Caps United picking themselves up and they will be at a respectable position come end of the season. But they may take some time to reclaim their former selves.

“But because of lack of sound sponsorship and failure to implement good footballing structures such as the junior policy, it may take long for Dynamos to start winning league titles once again. However, you may rest assured that DeMbare won’t be relegated for some time to come,” said the respected football mentor.

Chidzambgwa said current Dynamos head coach Saul Chaminuka is a good coach who is capable of lifting the team from the abyss despite the current crisis.

He declined to commit to any prediction on who was most likely to win the 2025 premiership title but warned that FC Platinum were still a force to reckon with.

“But you can rule out the Norman Mapeza coached outfit, FC Platinum at your own peril. They may be failing to find the back of the net, but I watched them play. They are a very good team, I tell you,” he said.

FC Platinum have a massive 11 draws and two victories only. They have 17 points and are 10 points shy of the log leaders MWOS. The four-time in a row champions are currently number 11 on the log table.