Beefy, Lulu vie for Highlanders job
FORMER Highlanders assistant coach Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu and suspended Bulawayo City gaffer Philani “Beefy” Ncube are in a two men’s race to assume the mentoring role at Swaziland’s Premiership side Mbabane Highlanders.
In an interview with Sunday News on Friday, Swaziland-based coaches and players agent, Dingane Maduna said the interim Mbabane Highlanders management committee that took charge of the club after managing director Bheki Fimelane was shown the exit recently, is set to convene a meeting tomorrow to decide on whom to hire between Mpofu and Ncube.
“We were almost finalising the issue on who to hire sometime back with Fimelane. However, when his head was put on the block club patrons took charge of the team.
“There is a new interim management committee that will have a meeting on Monday (tomorrow) to decide on who to hire,” said Maduna who enjoys a good working relationship with football clubs in Swaziland and South Africa.
Any of the two Zimbabwean coaches (Lulu and Beefy) who will land the job at Mbabane Highlanders will take over from Malawian coach Meke Mwase who recently confirmed parting ways with the Swaziland top league side over contractual disagreements.
According to Nyasa Times of Malawi, the two parties never signed a new contract after the expiry of his previous contract but the coach was working based on a Memorandum of Understanding since the beginning of the new season 2016/2017 season which was set to enter into round 11 yesterday.
Mwase dumped the Swazi side after only four league games and two cup games in-charge in the new season leaving his Zimbabwe-born assistant Tarisai Changara as caretaker coach.
The Swaziland premiership is home to a couple of Zimbabwean coaches that include Warriors assistant coach Saul Chaminuka (Matsapha United), Godfrey Tamirepi (Manzini Sundowns) and Hebert Maruwa (Green Mambas) among others.