Rest Mutore, Sports Reporter
RODWELL Dhlakama is adamant that he will win trophies this coming season at Ngezi Platinum despite the coronavirus setback.
Dhlakama, however, admitted it is now difficult to catch-up and make sure the players are in good shape to compete at their level best.
He said he had covered a lot of ground during the preseason in the build up to the 2020 Premiership season only to be postponed within days of kickoff.
For the former Chapungu coach, however, this has affected every team and will not use that as an scapegoat not to win trophies.
He said the hope now is Covid-19 recedes to allow football to return between August and September – the period that has officially communicated to start the season.
“Like what I have said before, this is a universal problem. This is a global pandemic that has affected all football teams in the country and in the world, not only football but everything.
“So to say we are now changing our vision or goals because of these circumstances would be wrong.
“Of course we had covered a lot of ground with hope that we are now hitting the ground running but we just have to keep the focus,” said Dhlakama.
Dhlakama made his title aspirations clear when he unveiled his squad for the 2020 season during preseason.
He said he hopes to build a legacy for the Mondoro-Ngezi side.
“The idea is to develop as team, grow as a team and that can only be achieved by winning trophies. And if can’t do that it means we have failed,” he said.
And to attain a memorable stint at Baobab, Dhlakama said the focus now is to monitor the players’ fitness during lockdown which he described as “something difficult.”
He said while they remain committed to the cause as coaches, it is the players’ responsibility as well to work on their fitness.
“That remains a priority to us. The problem, however, is it’s not that easy. We need to meet these guys physically.
“There’s the issue of distance, some of the players stay as far as Victoria Falls which even make random visits difficult.
“We have been doing it through zoom but there’s also the issue of data, network and power. It is not easy as we think but we have given out them workouts to do. It is now up to the players to make sure that they respect that for the good of their career,” he said.
A number of Ngezi players have been posting videos on social media doing home workouts something Dhlakama described as ‘encouraging and motivating.’
Dhlakama joined Ngezi towards end of last season and went on to recruit a number of new players.
– HMETRO