‘The job is half done’

AS A club, as a coach, you always plunge into competitions with the intention to do well and this season is no exception.

One can never be satisfied but with a week to go before the season starts I believe we have done well in assembling a squad. We feel can do well.

In my book that is half the job done. What is next now is to go out there and apply what we work on at training on match days.

In the build-up to this campaign there has been a lot of talk about how Chitembwe is supposedly good with getting players back to form.

However, I must be hasten to say it’s not all about me because majority of the work is done by the players themselves. It’s not about Chitembwe being strict, it’s all about making some of these boys understand the ethics, the professionalism required.

And when I talk about ethics I will be simply referring to being respectful to one’s career, being respectful to the team, making sure you are being punctual and all those things that define professionalism.

For me as a coach it’s all about being very assertive in wanting things done in a very professional way.

Teachers can be strict but coaches can’t be strict because there are times you are supposed to be flexible. I won’t make a judgment on how effective my management style is. I will let the people judge and if they can talk of players being revived under my management style let them talk about it. Having players perform at their optimum gives some kind of an endorsement to the amount of work one is doing in the careers of these football players.

It is good for my feelings too but credit should be given to the players that respond to what I want.

Like I said, at the end of the day it goes down to players and as a coach you do not have to necessarily pay attention to the good things being said about you because it will leave you in a false sense of comfort.

All you have to do is keep working hard and that is what I intend to do this year. Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe made these remarks to The Sunday Mail Sport’s Don Makanyanga in Harare on March 8, 2018 Chafa and Joel Ngodzo is needed once again.

Moyo, Mukamba, Wisdom Mutasa and, to some extent, the returning Ronald “Rooney” Chitiyo badly need a fresh start but will have to toe the line.

It is ironic that Chitembwe, a man who had his fair share of disciplinary hearings during his playing days, is now being regarded as a stickler for rules.

The Caps United coach is in the habit of making surprise visits to his players’ homes, chatting with their wives and parents.

On Friday he arrived for work at the National Sports Stadium 45 minutes early and found Mukamba seated in his car.

The midfielder, on loan from DeMbare, was patiently waiting to go through a fitness programme that makes him say “mahwani” (it’s tight) at every interval and leaves him guzzling water like a camel.

The Caps United gaffer did not say “well done mate” to Mukamba. Instead he telephoned Jere.

“Lloyd has just told me that Denver is starting to repay the love we have been investing in him. In his eyes nothing shows commitment to duty than reporting early for it and Mukamba has just ticked an important box. We still have a long way to go with the player, but it’s so far so good,” says Jere.