Sports / Local
Plot to have Bosso relegated uncovered
14 Jan 2015 at 07:20hrs | Views
A leaked list of Highlanders players who had been identified for offloading at the end of last season badly shook some of them to an extent that they secretly connived to take the team to Division One.
The list had allegedly been compiled towards the end of last season and was circulated among players.
"We understand that players can come and go but for the club to come up with such a list at a time that things weren't that well on the field of play was a bit disturbing.
"The list had more than half the senior players going and word was that it was compiled by one of the executive members (name supplied)," said a senior player.
Suspicions are that the leakage was a deliberate ploy to cause disharmony in the team.
The player said some players connived to sabotage the team so that it could be relegated to Division One so as to "fix" whoever came up with the list.
"It was common knowledge that a new coach was going to be appointed at the end of the season and we wondered why the executive wanted to fire players instead of waiting for the new coach to do his own assessment of players," said the player.
Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede is on record confirming that a list was compiled before year end but the execution of the plan was stopped following advice from the board.
"The letters were written long back and were only awaiting my signature. I must stress that the list was compiled in consultation with the technical team then.
"It was later felt that the new coach might not be particularly pleased with that," said Gumede during an interview early this month.
Contacted for comment, Cosmas Zulu, appointed acting technical director after the departure of Kelvin Kaindu, confirmed that he did address the players and assured them that he had nothing to do with the impending sackings.
"They sent then manager Willard Mashinkila Khumalo to ask me to address them on the so called dismissals which they suspected I had a hand in. I was very clear that I had no jurisdiction to sack players. My brief was simply to bring normalcy and address issues to do with players' discipline," said Zulu.
The list had allegedly been compiled towards the end of last season and was circulated among players.
"We understand that players can come and go but for the club to come up with such a list at a time that things weren't that well on the field of play was a bit disturbing.
"The list had more than half the senior players going and word was that it was compiled by one of the executive members (name supplied)," said a senior player.
Suspicions are that the leakage was a deliberate ploy to cause disharmony in the team.
The player said some players connived to sabotage the team so that it could be relegated to Division One so as to "fix" whoever came up with the list.
"It was common knowledge that a new coach was going to be appointed at the end of the season and we wondered why the executive wanted to fire players instead of waiting for the new coach to do his own assessment of players," said the player.
Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede is on record confirming that a list was compiled before year end but the execution of the plan was stopped following advice from the board.
"The letters were written long back and were only awaiting my signature. I must stress that the list was compiled in consultation with the technical team then.
"It was later felt that the new coach might not be particularly pleased with that," said Gumede during an interview early this month.
Contacted for comment, Cosmas Zulu, appointed acting technical director after the departure of Kelvin Kaindu, confirmed that he did address the players and assured them that he had nothing to do with the impending sackings.
"They sent then manager Willard Mashinkila Khumalo to ask me to address them on the so called dismissals which they suspected I had a hand in. I was very clear that I had no jurisdiction to sack players. My brief was simply to bring normalcy and address issues to do with players' discipline," said Zulu.
Source - chronicle
