Imports disappoint Dembare

DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya has complained that the club was not getting true value for money spent in acquiring four foreigners that joined the team at the start of the season.

The Harare giants signed two Cameroonians Herve Mbega and Junior "Neymar" Nkahan, Ghanaian Robert Sackey and Congolese Ngandu Mangala to bolster their squad.

However, nine games into the season, only Mangala has played regularly for the team since the start of the season, scoring two goals, while the other trio has barely featured due to injuries.

"It's a cause for concern; we are really worried as a club, frankly speaking," complained Ndiraya.

"You want to get a return on your investment and so far we haven't really been getting that. It's an issue which we are taking seriously."

Mbega, who has a persistent hamstring problem has played just three games, while his compatriot, nicknamed Neymar, has only one game under his belt. Neymar has a groin injury, which he aggravated at training last week and went on to miss the team's weekend match.

He looked to be recovering well at training this week until he was hit by a bout of flu yesterday, which will rule him out of the team's trip to champions FC Platinum tomorrow.

Sackey is yet to play for his new club. He initially had problems with his work permit which saw him returning to his country and consequently missed the first two encounters of the season.

Upon his return, he picked an injury when he broke his finger at training.

"Some of the guys are responding, but frankly we are so worried. We hope that the foreign players will recover quickly so that the team and the club in general get the value for their money. We want a return on our investment, and we won't be apologetic about it. We hope that when they come back they will be ready to get back into the team where they are
supposed to be," he said.

Ndiraya blamed recurrent injuries on his players on the low fitness levels.

"As coaches we go to a certain level to make sure that players get fit, but I personally believe that the players should take responsibility for their fitness, making sure that they are fit. They should do extra training on their own to make sure that they are in the best possible shape to play at this level. Unfortunately, some of these guys don't do that, and we have been sitting on them to make sure that they do extras even after our training here and the response has been good so far.

"We are talking to the medical team, and I said it when I got here, that these plays had low fitness levels and when we introduced an intense training programme to try and raise up their fitness levels, that's when most of the guys started picking those injuries. So I can attribute that to low fitness levels."

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match day 10 fixtures

Tomorrow: Bulawayo Chiefs v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Luveve), FC Platinum v Dynamos (Mandava), Black Rhinos v Herentals (National Sports Stadium), Harare City v Hwange (Rufaro), Manica
Diamonds v Yadah (Gibbo)

Sunday: Triangle v Mushowani Stars (Gibbo), Highlanders v ZPC Kariba (Barbourfields), Chapungu v TelOne (Mandava), Caps United v Chicken Inn (National Sports Stadium)