The Bosso curse

ADMITTEDLY Highlanders Football Club is one of the most revered football institutions in the country and has arguably the second largest following after champions Dynamos.

Bosso, as the club is affectionately known, is also the oldest football club in the country having been formed in 1926 by the descendants of King Lobengula.

Like any other football club, players join, while others leave. However, one interesting trend that has emerged at the club in recent years is that most of the players who leave Bosso under controversial circumstances have gone on to prove huge flops, failing to replicate their acts that would have endeared them to football fans while at Highlanders.

There are some, however, who have managed to move on, do better and accomplish a lot in their careers.

We have players such as former captain, Simba Rusike who switched to rivals AmaZulu, proved a huge failure as he failed to find his feet at the club.

Gift "Thebe" Lunga was forced to move to Caps United in 2005 after falling-out of favour with then coach, Madinda Ndlovu, but he did not produce the sparkle that he used to show at Highlanders. It was not the same Thebe who used to close up the left flank to the opposition, eventually retracing his steps back to Bosso.

A recent example is right winger, Rahman Kutsanzira who, after being crowned among the top 11 soccer stars in the country in 2011, decided to seek better fortunes elsewhere, "deserting" Highlanders for Caps United. Kutsanzira failed to shine for the green machine and an injury worsened his forgettable stay in the capital.

The winger has now retraced his footsteps back to Bosso and has all hopes of turning another leaf in his career.

The Ngodzo brothers, Joel and Zephaniah opted to join moneybags FC Platinum at the beginning of the 2011 season.

Although the same year saw the platinum miners being pipped to the title by Dynamos on goal difference, Zephaniah failed to find the form that kept him going at Highlanders while Joel failed to rekindle that sparkling form that made him the young darling to the hard-to-please Highlanders fans.

After the expiry of their contracts FC Platinum did not make efforts to renew them. Josta returned to the black and white army last year but struggled with form with indiscipline finally taking its toll on what was hailed as a promising career for the midfielder.

Former Motor Action striker Masimba Mambare was among the players who joined Highlanders in 2012 and his presence was immediately felt on the pitch. A blistering form in the course of the year saw him emerge as the club's top goal scorer, and was duly voted the first runner-up among the soccer stars of the year. He added an icing on the cake when he was voted the Highlanders player of the year.

The following year he had a subdued season and after the expiry of his contract, he chose not to renew it. He headed back to Harare where he joined Highlanders' bitter rivals, Dynamos. The antagonism the move created is well known as he was also labelled a "traitor". His first season at Dynamos did not pan out as expected; injury put him on the sidelines although he has now fully recovered.

Highlanders' supporter, Melusi Sibanda said it could either be misfortune or failure of the players to adapt to a new style of play.

He said some players might find it hard to fit into a new system of play while for some the difficulty could be failure to fit in well at their new teams.

A former Highlanders executive member said there were several players such as Mercedes Sibanda who moved to Blackpool, Willard Khumalo to Ziscosteel and Lovemore Ncube to Dynamos and they all failed to find the form that made them famous at Bosso.

Makwinji Soma-Phiri was singled out as the player who managed to make an impact at Dynamos after swapping the black and white shirt for the blue one.

The former Bosso official, however, said their own undoing was failing to fit in the new environment.

"Highlanders are a big team and there is always pressure on players to perform, there are fans to please and also to spur you when you are on the pitch, so I think the mood created at Bosso easily makes one shine.

"I think most of them (footballers) would be average but turning out for a big brand such as Highlanders would make them work hard and they have the media on their side because if you look closely at it Dynamos and Highlanders are a boon for the media as they have big supporters base so the teams assist media houses push their sales.

"Some of these players fail trials abroad because they are average but when at Bosso they do wonders," said the former Bosso administrator.

Highlanders' former chairman and current chief executive officer, Ndumiso Gumede said there was a conducive environment at Bosso that brought out the best in everyone.

"There is an ambience that is created at the oldest team in the land which brings out the best in anybody who becomes part of the club in whatever capacity. I think even most players who join us feel privileged to be playing for Bosso hence they always thrive to excel because of the club's big name and brand that is associated with the club," said Gumede.

However, other former Bosso players have managed to keep their form such as Vusa Nyoni, Honour Gombami, Zenzo Moyo, Peter Ndlovu and Obadiah Tarumbwa among others when they moved to other teams.