Zimpapers Logo

Dingilizwe Ntuli, Sports Editor
HIGHLANDERS are in crisis and even the club’s diehard fans painfully admit that Bosso have entered a period of slow death.

Although supporters’ dissatisfaction over the effectiveness or lack thereof of various coaches and players is a seasonal occurrence, it can’t match their unfolding anger that started at the beginning of the second part of the season.

The team started the season on a promising note, making their supporters believe this could be the year Bosso would strongly challenge for the league title.

But no sooner had the mid-season transfer window closed than limp, lethargic and unrecognisable performances suddenly became Highlanders’ style of play.

Longsuffering supporters that have now become accustomed to the false hope the team gives them at the beginning of every season have turned on head coach, Erol Akbay, whom they hailed as a “saviour” when took over the reins in January 2016, and now want him out.

Fans are angry that Bosso are no longer the beast they were in yesteryear when playing at Barbourfields Stadium. Barbourfields instilled fear in visiting teams, but lately it has become the easiest venue to pick up points against Bosso.

That sense of invincibility has been diminished and Bosso players are lacklustre and timid on the Barbourfields turf.

This was evident in Bosso’s 0-1 loss to bottom of the table Tsholotsho on Wednesday last week. The players struggled on the pitch and appeared bereft of confidence and without any organisation.

It was no wonder they were smashed 3-0 by Ngezi Platinum Stars on Saturday. Watching Highlanders’ games these days has become painful and the atmosphere has grown increasingly toxic on the stands.

Songs of disenchantment now ring around the Barbourfields stands, as supporters use the only platform they have to voice their frustration and anger at their beloved club.

But it begs the question, how did it come to this? Who should be held responsible for such a seemingly avoidable decline at the country’s oldest football club?

Bosso have routinely lost their best players in the past two seasons and no effort whatsoever was made to replace them.

Bruce Kangwa moved to Tanzania, Knox Mutizwa moved to South Africa and Prince Dube also joined the great trek down south, but the club has continued its business as usual approach. No quality players were brought in as replacements.

Where did money from the sale of these players go? Shouldn’t it have been used to strengthen the team? Are Bosso only selling players to offset the club’s ballooning debt? If that’s the club’s business model, then the team will continue to bleed to the fans’ chagrin.

While the collective finger must be pointed unflinchingly at the technical team and players for the mediocre performances, the club’s executive cannot duck the blame.

And without branding the Bosso executive incompetent or indifferent, it’s fair to say they have aimlessly and frivolously overseen the ineptitude on the pitch that has led the club to where it hasn’t been in years.

The Bosso executive holds meetings more than any other club, but they don’t seem to bear fruit as the team’s performances continue to decline.

Just yesterday, they were locked in a marathon meeting and there is no guessing what the outcome will be – nothing.

Highlanders need quality all-round, which includes the executive, coaches and players, for the team to bridge the gap between being a nearly side and winners.

The club is failing on the pitch and struggling off it, and the executive must prove us wrong this time by coming up with implementable solutions, unpopular or painful, before the team hits rock bottom.