Bamusi out to exorcise ghost of 2023

PHINEAS Bamusi wants to quickly forget the events of the 2023 Premiership season when he endured one of the worst terms in his football career spanning over a decade.

The usually razor-sharp winger was a pale shadow of the silky player who helped the Green Machine to the league title in 2016 and Triangle to the Chibuku Super Cup glory two years later.

The CAPS United forward failed to register his name on the score-sheet for the first time in the entire season since introducing himself in the scene with Buffaloes more than 10 years ago.

So bad was the situation that Bamusi announced that he was leaving Makepekepe at the end of last year before he was convinced by those he trusted to stick around.

And his preoccupation going into the new season is to right his wrongs from last year.

“I want to do better than what I did last season going into the new term. I think 2023 was my worst season since I started playing football.

“I hardly managed to significantly contribute to the good of my team. It was very tough for me seeing the fans yelling to see what I usually give them,” said Bamusi.

“I felt sorry for them. At first, I was a bit cool and patient thinking that I would eventually raise the bar and start scoring and assisting my teammates.” Bamusi said he was trying too hard and that could be the reason why the touch always eluded him.

“But as time moved on, it became a matter of me trying too hard to be able to assert myself in the game. I became desperate and then lost the plot. At the end of the season, I started to consider leaving the team. I thought I had disappointed the fans enough and I needed to go elsewhere,” he said. “But I would like to thank my teammates and coach Lloyd Chitembwe who have always backed me. They stood with me even when the chips were down. They are the ones who also advised me to be a little bit patient and hang on to the team.

“I understood that barren years are common in football and it’s part of the game.

“So going into the 2024 season, I have renewed confidence that I will be firing and doing what I know best.” Makepekepe has made positive strides in the market, bringing a mixture of youth and experience and the Lloyd Chitembwe charges are being touted as one of the favourites to fight for the honours this coming season. Bamusi agrees but acknowledges that the team will have to be at their best to compete against equally strong rivals like Ngezi Platinum, Simba Bhora, Manica Diamonds, Chicken Inn, and Dynamos.

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