Emulate Chicken Inn: Coaches Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas is hoisted in the air by jubilant players and supporters after winning the 2015 Castle Lager Premiership title by beating Harare City 3-1 at Luveve Stadium on Saturday
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas is hoisted in the air by jubilant players and supporters after winning the 2015 Castle Lager Premiership title by beating Harare City 3-1 at Luveve Stadium on Saturday

Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas is hoisted in the air by jubilant players and supporters after winning the 2015 Castle Lager Premiership title by beating Harare City 3-1 at Luveve Stadium on Saturday

Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Soccer Coaches Union of Zimbabwe (SCUZ) yesterday said clubs in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League should emulate Chicken Inn and believe in their coaches’ abilities if they want to win trophies. Congratulating the Gamecocks for winning the PSL title with a game to spare, SCUZ secretary-general Newsome Katema, praised Chicken Inn’s executive for having faith in Joe Antipas and keeping him when the going was tough in 2014.

Antipas who won his second championship on Saturday, five years after leading now defunct Motor Action to the PSL title joined Chicken Inn in October 2013, taking over from Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu. Then Chicken Inn were in position six after 25 games with 36 points.

They went on to finish the season on position six, a position that they retained last season. The former national team assistant coach spent the 2014 season building a squad that went on to sit at the top of the table from Week Six of the 2015 season and never looked back.

Chicken Inn became one of the most fearsome sides in the league and proved that they were championship material by coming back from a goal down in most cases to picking crucial points in the second half in some of their 2015 games. Katema credited Antipas for assembling what he termed “a complete machine” that was backed by an ambitious executive.

“Very few clubs have faith in their coaches and that is why you discover that at times you see a gaffer fired even before the players begin to understand his philosophy. Chicken Inn leadership should be commended for sticking to their coach especially last season when it seemed they were struggling midway through. For being visionaries and seeing what Antipas was working towards to achieve, as SCUZ we congratulate our fellow member Antipas and Chicken Inn management for winning the title. We hope other clubs will copy Chicken Inn’s leadership style and back their coaches,” said Katema.

Last season Chicken Inn went through a bad spell and found themselves glued in relegation zone, position 13 at the end of Week 18 with 21 points. The Gamecocks went on to fight hard, ending the season on position six with 44 points.

Katema said clubs should avoid high coaches’ turnover as that was detrimental to their survival. On their way to winning the championship, Chicken Inn who are in their fifth Premiership season have had four coaches, Philani “Beefy” Ncube (2011), the late Adam Ndlovu (2012), Mpofu (January-October 2013) and Antipas.

Ncube led them into the PSL after winning the 2010 Zifa Southern Region championship and managed a position eight finish in their maiden topflight season. Ndlovu then led the Gamecocks to position three in 2012, before they went on to finish on position six in the 2013 and 14 seasons.

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