Maunganidze promises brighter days for Dynamos

NEWLY-APPOINTED Dynamos chairman Moses Maunganidze has promised to turn around the fortunes of the club.

Maunganidze, who replaced Isaiah Mupfurutsa last Friday, said he was aware of the enormity of the task ahead as DeMbare are preparing to celebrate their 60th anniversary on the back of a depressing run.

The Harare giants have now gone eight years without winning silverware.

The protracted barren spell has not gone down well with the success-starved supporters, most of whom had turned their backs on the team in the just-ended season.

“We are aware of the sentiments and expectations of the fans. It’s true we have gone for a long time without winning the title. We tried our best in the just-ended season but we came third eventually.

“But remember we were coming from worse positions, so we are hoping to build on that improvement and compete for the title next season.

“The resources are there and the structures are there. In terms of planning, we are good to go. We all understand that Dynamos’ philosophy is all about winning trophies.

“There is always pressure at Dynamos and we are ready to face it,” said Maunganidze.

Dynamos are the country’s most successful club with 22 Premiership league titles under their belt. However, they last won a major silverware in 2014.

DeMbare have experienced disappointments in the last few seasons. They were embroiled in relegation battles in 2018 and eventually finished 11th. And then in 2019 they were ninth before football was halted the following season because of the Covid-19 disruptions. Dynamos finished third in the most recent campaign, despite the huge sponsorship boost from their sponsors, Sakunda Holdings.

Maunganidze, who has been the club’s vice-chairman from February 2019 until his elevation to the hot seat last Friday, said they have a blueprint to move the club forward and will continue with the implementation.

His predecessor, Mupfurutsa, apparently had fallen out of favour with the club’s board chairman, Bernard Marriott.

“As Dynamos we have put in place a blueprint for the next three to five years. So I am simply going to continue with the template because we believe in continuity.

“It’s surely not about me. It’s about us as an executive, the club, the fans and our various stakeholders. Our job as the executive is to make sure the club implements all the input we get from the various stakeholders. We need to work together as a team and we have to deliver as a team.”

Maunganidze is not new to topflight football administration. The human resources executive was chairman of former Premiership club, Blue Rangers, before he was appointed to the Dynamos executive as committee member.

His immediate challenge is to address the issue of the technical team, which was left vacant following the departure of head coach Tonderai Ndiraya.

DeMbare are also looking to build a solid squad since a number of players in their squad have their contracts expiring next month.

“I am happy to say that we have begun the process of reviewing our squad.

“We have been negotiating with some players for the renewal of contracts and we have also been looking at others that may need to be released.

“It’s a lengthy process. We will be updating the progress every step of the way. Remember we need to appoint a new coach and his input will also be key,” he said.

Dynamos will also need to convince their supporters to come back and support the team at the ground as most of their matches this season have been rocked by poor attendances. The fans were not happy with the quality of play and the inconsistencies in results.