Sports / Soccer
Bulawayo City in no hurry to appoint coach
04 May 2018 at 07:22hrs | Views
BULAWAYO City are in no hurry to appoint a substantive coach and caretaker boss Bekithemba Ndlovu will be in charge of their Castle Lager Premiership derby against former champions Chicken Inn at Luveve Stadium tomorrow.
Ndlovu, who was temporarily thrust into the hot seat after the municipal side fired coach Darlington Dodo following a string of poor results, crafted City's second win of the season, a 3-0 drubbing of new boys Nichrut on Wednesday.
The victory moved City a place up the league table from 17th to 16th. They are still hovering in the relegation zone, but will take comfort in ending a seven-game winless run, which included five consecutive defeats.
Ndlovu will be hard-pressed to prove to his bosses that he is the right man for the job.
Ndlovu is holding fort while City make up their minds on whether to bring on board former Highlanders' coach Amini Soma-Phiri or stick with Ndlovu.
"Updates on the substantive coach will be announced on Monday afternoon. Our interim coach Beke (Ndlovu) will be in charge of the game against Chicken Inn; that's where all the focus is being directed at the moment," said City chairman Jerry Sibanda.
City could have deliberately delayed appointing Phiri so that they don't affect the team's preparations ahead of the derby.
Being a derby, coaches have a common statement that the group of players that want it most will win the encounter, but Ndlovu needs to come up with something special to grab at least a point against a Chicken Inn side coming from a "big" 1-0 away win at Caps United.
Statistics favour City heading into tomorrow's encounter. The two sides have faced each other four times, with City winning three of those encounters since gaining promotion in 2016. Chicken Inn won the last meeting 1-0.
City are likely to stick to the team that beat Nichrut.
Chicken Inn are no pushovers with an experienced side. If they can manage to overcome fatigue they can give City a good run for their money.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Herentals v FC Platinum (Rufaro), Nichrut v Chapungu (Ascot), Chicken Inn v Bulawayo City (Luveve), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Yadah (Baobab)
Sunday: Highlanders v ZPC Kariba (Barbourfields), Shabanie Mine v Caps United (Maglas), Dynamos v Harare City (Rufaro), Triangle United v Bulawayo Chiefs (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Black Rhinos (Vengere)
Ndlovu, who was temporarily thrust into the hot seat after the municipal side fired coach Darlington Dodo following a string of poor results, crafted City's second win of the season, a 3-0 drubbing of new boys Nichrut on Wednesday.
The victory moved City a place up the league table from 17th to 16th. They are still hovering in the relegation zone, but will take comfort in ending a seven-game winless run, which included five consecutive defeats.
Ndlovu will be hard-pressed to prove to his bosses that he is the right man for the job.
Ndlovu is holding fort while City make up their minds on whether to bring on board former Highlanders' coach Amini Soma-Phiri or stick with Ndlovu.
"Updates on the substantive coach will be announced on Monday afternoon. Our interim coach Beke (Ndlovu) will be in charge of the game against Chicken Inn; that's where all the focus is being directed at the moment," said City chairman Jerry Sibanda.
City could have deliberately delayed appointing Phiri so that they don't affect the team's preparations ahead of the derby.
Statistics favour City heading into tomorrow's encounter. The two sides have faced each other four times, with City winning three of those encounters since gaining promotion in 2016. Chicken Inn won the last meeting 1-0.
City are likely to stick to the team that beat Nichrut.
Chicken Inn are no pushovers with an experienced side. If they can manage to overcome fatigue they can give City a good run for their money.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Herentals v FC Platinum (Rufaro), Nichrut v Chapungu (Ascot), Chicken Inn v Bulawayo City (Luveve), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Yadah (Baobab)
Sunday: Highlanders v ZPC Kariba (Barbourfields), Shabanie Mine v Caps United (Maglas), Dynamos v Harare City (Rufaro), Triangle United v Bulawayo Chiefs (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Black Rhinos (Vengere)
Source - chronicle
