Kevin Kaindu eyes greatness

ON Monday, Kevin Kaindu marked his first year, guiding Highlanders in the trenches of the domestic championship, by extending his team's unbeaten home league record, the best in the era of the modern Premiership, to 16 games.

Exactly a year to the day when the KK revolution got underway at Barbourfields, with an impressive 4-0 destruction of Blue Rangers, Kaindu and his men beat Harare City 2-0 at the same venue to maintain their 100 percent flying start in the marathon.

It was on April 1 last year, that Bosso played their first league match, under Kaindu, and on Monday, April 1, 2013, the Zambian gaffer made it 16 home league matches without a defeat, with victory over the Sunshine City boys.

Highlanders lost only one league match, a comprehensive 0-3 defeat at the hands of Monomotapa at Rufaro last year, en-route to a brave challenge for the league title where they finished tied, on points, with Dynamos but lost out to their bitter rivals on goal difference.

Bosso were unbeaten at home, all season, in the league last year, and on Easter Monday, they extended their run to 16 league games without a loss as comeback kid, Njabulo Ncube, and midfielder Peter "Rio" Moyo, struck either side of the break at Barbourfields.

If you add the two away matches against Chicken Inn and Quelaton, which were also played in the City of Kings last year, it brings his unbeaten run in league matches in Bulawayo to 18 games.

The victory over the Sunshine Boys, who came into this match bubbling with confidence after a 1-0 win over CAPS United on Match Day One, took Highlanders' tally to six points, from two matches, the same as leaders FC Platinum who occupy top spot by virtue of a superior goal difference.

Bosso have now won 22 league matches, under Kaindu's guidance, drawn nine, lost once, scored 53 goals and conceded 15, accruing 75 out of a possible 96 points, for an impressive success rate of 78,12 percent.

Eight of their away league matches last year were in Harare, the home of their two biggest rivals - Dynamos and CAPS United - and Highlanders only lost once, to Monomotapa, and were undefeated against DeMbare, Makepekepe, Motor Action, Harare City, Black Mambas, Gunners and Blue Rangers.

Bosso won four times in the capital last year, beating CAPS United (2-0), Black Mambas (3-1), Gunners (1-0) and Blue Rangers (2-0), drew three times against Dynamos (1-1), Harare City (0-0) and Motor Action (0-0) while their only loss was the 0-3 meltdown against Monomotapa.

They beat both the Zvishavane clubs FC Platinum and Shabanie in their backyard, won in Gweru against Hardbody (2-0) and also won in Hwange (1-0).

Bosso failed to beat Harare City, home and away last year, with their matches ending in goalless draws and Kaindu must have been charmed by the improvement, this time around, as his team powered to a 2-0 victory over the same plucky opponents.

Highlanders' failure to convert draws into victories, in their hometown last year, played a big part in their failure to win the league championship as they dropped 10 points, from five drawn matches, in their backyard against Dynamos, Chicken Inn (twice), Harare City and Quelaton.

Kaindu is on track to match the record set by Charles Mhlauri, during his time at CAPS United, when he lost just one league game, in a period stretching from November 5, 2003, when the Green Machine held Amazulu to a goalless draw, to May 8, 2005, when they lost 1-2 to Highlanders at Barbourfields.

That their only defeat had also come against Bosso, in a league match at the National Sports Stadium in 2004, it meant that during that period, spread over 18 months, CAPS United did not lose a league match to any other local football club except the Bulawayo giants.

Mhlauri's men did not lose an away league match, from October 19, 2003 when they lost 0-2 to Chapungu at Ascot with Phillip Marufu and Dumisani Mufudze on target, to May 8, 2005, when their record-breaking unbeaten run on the road was ended by Bosso at Barbourfields.

The Green Machine, under Mhlauri, played 37 league matches, between November 5, 2003 and May 7, 2008, won 31 games, drew five and lost just one.

They scored 81 goals and conceded only 19 for an impressive tally of 93, out of a possible 111 points, and a success rate of 83,78 percent.

Kaindu needs another five league games, without tasting defeat, to match Mhlauri in losing just one league match in 37 games but the Zambian coach, crucially, needs silverware to back his impressive track record because, without the trophies, it won't count for much.

Mhlauri won two league titles with CAPS United, during his golden spell with the Green Machine, and Kaindu came a close second, in last year's race, to Dynamos, and needs to convert his good start this season into silverware for his impressive statistics to make sense. Mhlauri's hugely successful era at CAPS United was powered, to a large extent, by the Zambian influence in his team with Laughter Chilembe a defensive rock the team could rely on while midfielder Ian Bakala was the creative hub of their engine room.

Bosso will also be hoping that the Zambian influence, which Kaindu brings to their club, can also help the reap huge benefits.

Mhlauri's CAPS United also possessed some fine local talent - from goalkeeping right to the forwardline - and that their players, Energy Murambadoro, Cephas Chimedza and Joseph Kamwendo, won the Soccer Star of the Year award during that time was by no means a coincidence.

Raymond Undi, Artwell Mabhiza, Leonard Tsipa, Brian Badza and Ashley Rambanapasi all combined their talents to form quite a formidable outfit that dominated the domestic football scene in 2004 and 2005.

While Boss do not appear to have a galaxy of players of that calibre, they do have a solid team and a group of hard-working individuals who believe that it's their turn, after their close loss last year, to be crowned kings of the domestic football scene.

Their unassuming Zambian coach, more than anyone in their dressing room, holds the key to where their destiny will take them.