Tag: Covid-19

Ndiraya’s Class Second Best In Last Ten Seasons

So Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya was suspended last week for as yet unexplained reasons. Only to be reinstated four days later again with no word coming from his employers.

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Naturally, the streets were abuzz with theories of the suspension with many alleging “Ndiraya’s stubbornness and insubordination, while as many claimed that Ndiraya ran a “Pay As You Play” scheme among his players.

But the most common of all was that Ndiraya had been suspended for poor results coupled brought about by “boring and unimaginative football.”

So far, Dynamos have played 16 matches, though one of these was abandoned. They have notched up nine victories and four draws, garnering a total of 31 points.

Which brought me to wonder how other Dynamos teams of the past 10 years have fared in their first 15 matches of the season, including the famed Dynamos sides of the golden Kallisto Pasuwa era between 2011 and 2014 which won the league titles in all these years.

Let us consider the mark of the first 15 matches because that is when the Dynamos executive had seen it fit to suspend Ndiraya.

A closer look at the last ten seasons will reveal Ndiraya’s 2022 class to be the SECOND top perfomers of all Dynamos teams in the first 15 matches of each of the past ten seasons.

Ndiraya’s performance is only bettered by the 2012 Dynamos team coached by Pasuwa which won 10 matches and drew 3 for a total of 33 points.

This 2022 Dynamos class has outperformed all other 8 Dynamos teams of the last 10 seasons including 3 of the famed Pasuwa teams of 2011, 2013 and 2014. Interestingly all these three Pasuwa teams went on to win the league title in each of these seasons.

The worst Dynamos of the past 10 seasons in the first 15 matches is the 2018 class coached by Lloyd Mutasa and assisted by the late Biggie Zuze which won just 3 matches and drew 5 for a total of a meagre 14 points. This poor start would cost Samaita his job in September of the same year as the Glamour Boys hovered dangerously around the relegation zone.

Lloyd Mablanyo Chigowe was to take over from Mutasa with six matches to play to the end of the season and had an average return of 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, in the process managing to steer Dynamos clear of the axe. That decent run would earn him the Dembare job on a substantive basis at the beginning of the 2019 season.

Sadly, Chigowe would fail to replicate his magic wand as he was fired in April after losing 3 successive matches while winning just one match from the first 4 league matches. The Dembare executive decided to give the reigns once again to Tonderai Ndiraya. The two coaches put up a total of 5 victories and 5 draws for a total of just 20 points from the first 15 matches.

The Covid-19 pandemic struck at the beginning of the 2020 season halting all football matches for that season and part of the 2021 one.

David Mandigora’s class of 2015 managed 27 points from its first 15 matches, 3 shy of the current Ndiraya side.

The current Ndiraya side also perfomed better that Italian Paulo Jorge Silva’s Dynamos of 2016 which won 7 matches and drew 4 matches for a total of 25 points.

The current Ndiraya side even has the luxury of an outstanding match not yet credited to their statistics, that is the abandoned blockbuster tie against Highlanders at Barbourfields which is set to be decided in the boardroom. By precedence however, Dynamos are most likely going to lose the 3 points to highlanders but this will not affect their total number of points in the first 15 matches of the season.

So contrary to popular belief about poor results, Ndiraya’s Dynamos has actually done very well putting up the second best start to a season by Dynamos teams in the last 10 seasons.

P W D L F A Pts
1 Dynamos 2012 15 10 3 2 28 9 33
2 **Dynamos 2022 14 9 3 2 17 6 30
3 Dynamos 2017 15 9 2 4 24 13 29
4 Dynamos 2013 15 7 7 1 23 9 28
5 Dynamos 2014 15 8 3 4 14 8 27
6 Dynamos 2015 15 7 6 2 15 10 27
7 Dynamos 2011 15 7 4 4 16 8 25
8 Dynamos 2016 15 7 4 4 12 9 25
9 Dynamos 2019 15 5 5 5 10 11 20
10 Dynamos 2018 15 3 5 7 11 18 14

**Match Abandoned And Yet To Be Decided

Despite Inaction, 2020 An Eventful Year For Dynamos

IT has been a very productive year for Harare giants Dynamos FC despite the 2020 Premiership season having been wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic, a raging ailment that has also claimed several lives in the football fraternity.

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The Glamour Boys have struggled to make an impact on the field of play in the past two seasons spending the better parts of the terms battling for their lives.

But coach Tonderai Ndiraya had assembled a strong-looking side early this year with the former Ngezi Platinum Stars gaffer drafting in more than 11 new players before the season was called off due to the pandemic.

While the year has largely been quiet due to lack of field action, Dynamos took advantage of the lull to put their structures in order and fill several Club Licensing gaps.

While other teams like CAPS United have lost their principal sponsors due to the Covid-19-induced hardships, Dynamos have managed to retain their financial partners, Gold Leaf Tobacco, while welcoming a US$300 000 kit sponsorship deal with Looks as well.

Instead of giving excuses like their counterparts, Dynamos have embarked on several outreach programmes, keeping their vibe and relationship with their supporters intact.

Dynamos Marketing And Communications Manager Yvonne Mangunda (pictured), said her team saw a window of opportunity to enhance their visibility even at a time when the game is not active.

“We have had several community outreach programmes during this lockdown. In our effort to support the Mbare Community, we partnered with our all-weather sponsors Gold Leaf Tobacco to donate food hampers to the needy member of that community,” said Mangunda.

“We have had so many initiatives, doing outreach programmes in Tynwald, Budiriro and Msasa. Just last weekend we also provided some section of our supporters in Glen Norah, who identify themselves as “MaDembare,” with some kits  while they go about their hairdressing business.

“Basically, we realised that Dynamos is a big club and they have a lot of supporters in all parts of the country who we know have been deprived of action for the whole of the year so this is just a way to remind them that we are still there and we value them. We have decided to keep in touch with them.

“We have always and will always try to reach out to our supporters so that we remain in touch at a time when we are not able to meet them at the stadiums.

“In all these outreach programmes, we have tried to give our fans the opportunity to interact with the players so that we build and enhance the bond that exists between these two inseparable sets of people.

“A lot has happened at Dynamos but we are in that phase where things have taken a different direction with the current administration which we have at Dynamos at the moment. A lot has been said about the team and a lot has happened too but in the last two years, things have taken a different direction and more is still to come.

“We appreciate our supporters and the people in general. You may have seen that we have tried to give some of our legends the replicas which are on sale throughout the country right now just as a way to appreciate them. We have given the replicas to the likes of Desmond Maringwa and Murape Murape, among others. Our legends are still part of us, they are still part of the family and we value their input,” Mangunda said.

Dynamos’ partnership with Belgian side KV Mechelen has also seen them receiving top-of-the range scientific equipment to be used in training.

DeMbare Look Beyond Covid-19

DYNAMOS chairman Isaiah Mupurutsa says they have since started working on life after Covid-19.

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The local Premiership was suspended over two months ago with a framework for the way forward currently being worked on.

Mupfurutsa said the focus now is on preparing their life after the lockdown or whenever time they are allowed to resume football.

He viewed the life after Covid-19 lockdown as a loss in waiting as he said more costs wait for the club.

“Sooner or later we will be going back to our normal lives. The before and after coronavirus life won’t be the same. We will have more bills to take care of upon resuming training.”

“It’s a loss in waiting. We will need money for the protective clothing, sanitisers, face masks and disinfectants among other things,” said Mupfurutsa.

The chairman vowed to have all the protective clothing for the club.

“There will be a lot we didn’t plan for that will be required and we will make sure we provide all the prevention clothes. We won’t compromise on health and we are already planning for that life.”

“It won’t be easy but we will fight. We will put it on our priority list. Their health is our number one priority,” he added.

Mupfurutsa, who has been preaching the gospel of commercialising the club, said the programme is on the right track.

They recently launched a platform for selling replica jersey and said they are pursuing a licence that will help them have distributing agents.

“We are on the right track in terms of commercialising. We are starting with the replicas. We will have our nominated agents not the norm of seeing everyone and anyone selling our replicas.

“We want fans to buy the replicas as a way of helping or contributing to the team. We are at the final stages of registering our business and that will guard us from anyone who will sell our jerseys without our permission. With a license we will be able to apply the law.”