Normalcy returns to CAPS Utd but.....

NORMALCY returned to turbulent CAPS United yesterday with the Harare giants training twice as they try to cover lost preparatory ground ahead of the resumption of the Castle Lager Premiership football this weekend.

The Green Machine have dominated football discourse over the past two months for all the wrong reasons.

Disgruntled with the delay in their salaries, players have been staging sit-ins with surprising consistency as the club teeter towards bankruptcy.

They only resumed training last week but the preparations would be halted once again last Friday as the club failed to honour their promise to settle outstanding dues on time.

The club also skipped sessions on Monday, just six days before their rescheduled Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against Black Rhinos at Sakubva on Sunday.

But for once, normalcy returned to  the Green Machine yesterday, with players going their paces twice in preparation of their game against Rhinos.

Interestingly that match-day-three encounter had to be cancelled in December after CAPS United players refused to undergo Covid-19 tests, demanding their dues first.

"We can reveal that everything is normal as you can see. The team trained in the morning and now we are having our afternoon session," said team manager, Shakespeare Chinogwenya.

"We were not supposed to train on Monday as we were putting other things together. Our training sessions run from Tuesday to Saturday so on Monday we didn't have training because it was an off day.

"But today (yesterday) we are loading the players as we start preparing for the rescheduled fixture against Black Rhinos.

"We are still the same CAPS United which is very much competitive in the field of play. Our technical team is working hard to have a competitive team and we are readying for the game against Black Rhinos.

"We are running around as a club to build a strong team. We will still be the team to beat after all this noise. We remain CAPS United, a giant and we will still show that in the field of play."

Despite losing hordes of players whose contracts had run out because of the general disgruntlement among the playing ranks, Makepekepe have managed to retain their old guard.

Ronald "Rooney" Chitiyo, who was rumoured to have been fed up by the CAPS United system, is back at training with the Lloyd Chitembwe charges so is Phineas Bhamusi.

Goalkeeper Simba Chinani seems to have ignored interest from his former club Dynamos and has remained with Makepekepe.

But the team will have to move with some lightning speed if they are to secure the big-name players who are training with them.

Unlike what has been reported in some sections of the media, The Herald can reveal that former FC Platinum striker and two-time Soccer star of the Year Rodwell Chinyengetere, veteran Devon Chafa and Dennis Dauda have not yet signed contracts with Makepekepe.

The trio, together with William Manondo, who has inked a deal, are some of the high-profile personnel at the CAPS United training ground.

But time seems to be running out for the Harare giants who will need to negotiate deals and register the players with the PSL by Saturday if they are to use them in the match against Black Rhinos.