Bosso to announce coach shortlist

FADING Bulawayo giants Highlanders will announce coaches shortlisted for interviews to take over from Dutchman Erol Akbay on Monday.

Akbay's disastrous second season in charge of Bosso ends in December and the club's executive has been searching for a replacement and assistant coach following an administrative mistake by acting chairman Modern Ngwenya and his executive which saw them failing to handle a personality feud between goalkeepers' coach Cosmas Zulu and assistant coach Amini Soma-Phiri.

The executive appointed an "independent" disciplinary committee to look into allegations of sabotage by Akbay and Zulu was found guilty of misconduct and relegated to the juniors, while Soma-Phiri was allegedly forced to resign.

This left Akbay with no substantive assistant and the executive drafted in development side Bosso 90 coach Melusi Sibanda to help the Dutchman with the first team.

"I will be announcing names of the shortlisted candidates on Monday. We have received quite a large number of applications from both within and outside the country," said Ngwenya.

He, however, declined to divulge the number of coaches that applied for the hot seat, but nine are believed to have thrown in their names for the assistant coach job.

Some applications are said to be from Europe and South America, but with the club's principal sponsors BancABC ending their relationship in December, it might be financial suicide to employ an expatriate coach unless another sound sponsor comes on board.

A source said Ngwenya and his executive could turn to a former player who will likely understand the financial position of the club.

Highlanders' chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube has previously pronounced that Bosso will have a substantive coach well ahead of the 2018 pre-season preparations.