Sports / Soccer
Dembare to fire Silva today
20 Apr 2016 at 06:38hrs | Views
PAULO Jorge Silva's disastrous short-term flirtation with Dynamos, where his shocking technical shortcomings have reduced the Glamour Boys into a punching bag, is set to come to an end today when the club's leaders call time on a marriage whose roots were found in hell.
The clueless Portuguese gaffer, a surprise choice for the country's biggest coaching job when it comes to club football, has proved out of depth at this level of the game and, rather than embrace his shortcomings, has instead chosen to blame others for his technical flaws.
The Glamour Boys have been reduced into a toothless side, who have forgotten how to score a goal in a losing streak that has sucked the confidence, if not arrogance, which used to make them such a powerful force on the domestic football scene before Silva's arrival.
As pressure continues to pile on the club's leaders, after the fans finally ran out of patience with the Portuguese gaffer and turned on him at White City in Bulawayo on Monday, The Herald was advised last night that Silva will be relieved of his duties today.
Dembare's miserable plight has also attracted the attention of ZIFA with the leader of the country's ruling football body Philip Chiyangwa yesterday saying the Glamour Boys' free-fall was unacceptable given the corrosive potential their downfall had on destroying the good health of the domestic Premiership.
"Dynamos, just like Highlanders, are not just ordinary football clubs but iconic brands for our domestic game and when they are competitive, usually, our Premier League is in good health with high attendance figures at stadiums, which benefit all the clubs in the league, and also provide the numbers that attract the sponsors to our main league," Chiyangwa said.
"While all teams in the league are equal to us, we will be lying to ourselves that Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United have not always set the benchmark for our football and it's not a coincidence that they are the three biggest football clubs in the country right now and have set the standards that others must follow.
"As ZIFA we are concerned with the state of affairs at Dynamos, their sudden fall from grace, and that a coach who was hired from Europe appears to be struggling to make his presence felt and, instead, he appears to be taking this club down.
"Today I have spoken to the club's board chairman, Bernard Marriot, and club president, Kenny Mubaiwa, and told them that they owe the millions of people who support this club an explanation as to what is happening and they need to find solutions to the challenges that they have because this club has always been a big part of our football and means a lot to millions of our people.
"I'm not saying that Dynamos should not lose or they should always win matches because other teams in the league also have the right to win but I'm saying that, when things go as badly as they have done in just a few months, surely there is need for the people who are leading this club to look at themselves in the mirror."
Silva, who has made startling allegations that he is being sabotaged by his men, is set to be shown the exit today and could be replaced by his assistant Lloyd Mutasa, who will take over on an interim basis.
"We are going to sit down and see exactly what we need to do without inflicting further damage to the season," a member of the club's leadership said.
"Right now we are not scoring goals, we are not winning matches and no one is happy with the way things are going.
"We have to make a decision before things go out of hand. If you ask me, there is no point to keep this technical team when the team is not performing to expectations.
"Definitely we are going to make some changes but first we need to identify capable replacements.
"We don't want to repeat the same mistakes.
"So far we are in a Catch-22 situation, it's a very difficult position."
Silva was tasked with helping Dynamos reclaim the league title but there have been more negatives coming out of the camp while the results have been disappointing.
The Portuguese coach had wanted to introduce his own way of doing business at the Harare giants and in the process has clashed with some of his players, notably Takesure Chinyama who has since left, and goalkeepers coach, Gift Muzadzi, who was sacrificed last week.
Dembare were thrashed 3-0 by Chicken Inn in the opening match of the season.
They were then held to a goalless home draw by Triangle in the second match to leave them in need of a win to appease their demanding supporters.
But they could not make up for it in the Independence Cup at the weekend.
They featured in two matches and finished the campaign again without finding the back of the nets to mark more than four hours of play since the start of the season without scoring a goal.
Silva, who has been complaining about the lack of quality in his strikeforce, could rue the departure of Chinyama, who returned to Poland after his relationship with the coach had irretrievably broken down.
He has also had numerous clashes with Muzadzi, who questioned the coach's pedigree and even hinted that Silva appeared to believe that black coaches were not good enough.
But the team still lost without Muzadzi at the weekend and the blame was fingered on four unnamed players.
It also appears Silva has been losing grip on the Glamour Boys dressing room.
Dembare secretary-general Webster Chikengezha yesterday challenged the coach to prove the claims that he is being sabotaged by players and members of his technical bench.
"We don't act on information that we have read or seen in the media because if we do that, it would be a recipe for disaster," said Chikengezha.
"The team has just arrived from Bulawayo and we are yet to have an official report from the technical.
"The coaches are saying they are being sabotaged.
"Whether that is true or not nobody really knows and we are saying to them give us proof that you are being sabotaged.
"They should tell us what exactly is being done to sabotage them and we are still waiting to hear from them."
Dembare will travel to Mutare this week for their next league game.
The clueless Portuguese gaffer, a surprise choice for the country's biggest coaching job when it comes to club football, has proved out of depth at this level of the game and, rather than embrace his shortcomings, has instead chosen to blame others for his technical flaws.
The Glamour Boys have been reduced into a toothless side, who have forgotten how to score a goal in a losing streak that has sucked the confidence, if not arrogance, which used to make them such a powerful force on the domestic football scene before Silva's arrival.
As pressure continues to pile on the club's leaders, after the fans finally ran out of patience with the Portuguese gaffer and turned on him at White City in Bulawayo on Monday, The Herald was advised last night that Silva will be relieved of his duties today.
Dembare's miserable plight has also attracted the attention of ZIFA with the leader of the country's ruling football body Philip Chiyangwa yesterday saying the Glamour Boys' free-fall was unacceptable given the corrosive potential their downfall had on destroying the good health of the domestic Premiership.
"Dynamos, just like Highlanders, are not just ordinary football clubs but iconic brands for our domestic game and when they are competitive, usually, our Premier League is in good health with high attendance figures at stadiums, which benefit all the clubs in the league, and also provide the numbers that attract the sponsors to our main league," Chiyangwa said.
"While all teams in the league are equal to us, we will be lying to ourselves that Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United have not always set the benchmark for our football and it's not a coincidence that they are the three biggest football clubs in the country right now and have set the standards that others must follow.
"As ZIFA we are concerned with the state of affairs at Dynamos, their sudden fall from grace, and that a coach who was hired from Europe appears to be struggling to make his presence felt and, instead, he appears to be taking this club down.
"Today I have spoken to the club's board chairman, Bernard Marriot, and club president, Kenny Mubaiwa, and told them that they owe the millions of people who support this club an explanation as to what is happening and they need to find solutions to the challenges that they have because this club has always been a big part of our football and means a lot to millions of our people.
"I'm not saying that Dynamos should not lose or they should always win matches because other teams in the league also have the right to win but I'm saying that, when things go as badly as they have done in just a few months, surely there is need for the people who are leading this club to look at themselves in the mirror."
Silva, who has made startling allegations that he is being sabotaged by his men, is set to be shown the exit today and could be replaced by his assistant Lloyd Mutasa, who will take over on an interim basis.
"We are going to sit down and see exactly what we need to do without inflicting further damage to the season," a member of the club's leadership said.
"Right now we are not scoring goals, we are not winning matches and no one is happy with the way things are going.
"We have to make a decision before things go out of hand. If you ask me, there is no point to keep this technical team when the team is not performing to expectations.
"Definitely we are going to make some changes but first we need to identify capable replacements.
"We don't want to repeat the same mistakes.
"So far we are in a Catch-22 situation, it's a very difficult position."
The Portuguese coach had wanted to introduce his own way of doing business at the Harare giants and in the process has clashed with some of his players, notably Takesure Chinyama who has since left, and goalkeepers coach, Gift Muzadzi, who was sacrificed last week.
Dembare were thrashed 3-0 by Chicken Inn in the opening match of the season.
They were then held to a goalless home draw by Triangle in the second match to leave them in need of a win to appease their demanding supporters.
But they could not make up for it in the Independence Cup at the weekend.
They featured in two matches and finished the campaign again without finding the back of the nets to mark more than four hours of play since the start of the season without scoring a goal.
Silva, who has been complaining about the lack of quality in his strikeforce, could rue the departure of Chinyama, who returned to Poland after his relationship with the coach had irretrievably broken down.
He has also had numerous clashes with Muzadzi, who questioned the coach's pedigree and even hinted that Silva appeared to believe that black coaches were not good enough.
But the team still lost without Muzadzi at the weekend and the blame was fingered on four unnamed players.
It also appears Silva has been losing grip on the Glamour Boys dressing room.
Dembare secretary-general Webster Chikengezha yesterday challenged the coach to prove the claims that he is being sabotaged by players and members of his technical bench.
"We don't act on information that we have read or seen in the media because if we do that, it would be a recipe for disaster," said Chikengezha.
"The team has just arrived from Bulawayo and we are yet to have an official report from the technical.
"The coaches are saying they are being sabotaged.
"Whether that is true or not nobody really knows and we are saying to them give us proof that you are being sabotaged.
"They should tell us what exactly is being done to sabotage them and we are still waiting to hear from them."
Dembare will travel to Mutare this week for their next league game.
Source - the herald
