Dembare rift exposed in secret audio

AS Dynamos go through the wreckage of their failure to win their Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against bitter rivals Caps United at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, a damaging audio, exposing bad blood between the players and assistant coach Murape Murape (pictured), has been leaked.

The audio features three senior players (names withheld), who were secretly recorded discussing the Harare derby, which ended in a stalemate after Dynamos surrendered a 3-0 lead, with Caps scoring three quick goals at the death to force a share of the spoils.

It seems the recording, which is circulating on social media, was made as the players travelled home in one vehicle after the match and another person, who could have made the recording, kept on posing questions to the players about in-house issues.

The players, referred to that person as "Father" and it seems he was the one driving the car. They sounded a disappointed lot after the team surrendered their lead late on.

In the audio, the players praised Lloyd Mutasa, saying he was a good coach, who only lacked a proper assistant.
The players were in agreement that the reason Dynamos was struggling was because Mutasa did not have a good assistant coach.

"You know what, Father, in football, if you just look at the technical team, it tells you how good or at what level that team is operating at," one player is heard saying. "Imagine Lloyd Chitembwe (Caps United coach) has Mark Mathe as his assistant and Mutasa has Murape, already we are disadvantaged. Dynamos have good players and Mutasa is a very good coach. The only problem is that he doesn't have an (able) assistant coach. Next season we can win the title if they get a better assistant for Mutasa,"

One of the players alleged that Murape disliked him and that was the reason he was struggling to make the team.
They also complained about the dropping of striker, Rodreck Mutuma, who in recent weeks, has made sporadic appearances.

"We know Roddy is a hot head, but dropping him is not the best way to go about it, he is our best striker. So why not just fine him and still let him play? You take some money off his wages, he will feel the pinch," argued the player.

Father suggested that there could be a change in the technical team for next season, but the players were sceptical.
One of them said: "There will not be a change in the technical team, Mutasa is the best person for that job. In any case, Dynamos cannot afford an expensive coach, the team does not have money. They will also not sign good players because they cannot afford it. The team will sign younger players."

One of the players threatened to quit the club at the end of the season, but Father encouraged him to stay on.
Interestingly, Murape has been critical of the current crop of players at the club, emphasising on remoulding the team with hungrier younger players.

He declined to comment on the issue yesterday.