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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ALTHOUGH the buck stops with the coach and the gaffer takes the flake when results don’t come, Highlanders’ skipper and goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda says players are equally to blame for Bosso’s faltering season.

Bosso are having an indifferent campaign and their championship challenge completely failed to take off, as they struggled from Matchday One and currently sit in the second-half of the league table with 15 points from 13 games.

That is 14 points behind pacesetters Dynamos on 29 points.

Pressure has been mounting on Bosso coach Mandla Mpofu following Highlanders’ slip to four points above the drop zone in 12th place, four matches before the halfway mark.

Mandla Mpofu

They will face 10th placed Bulawayo Chiefs on Sunday, followed by an epic home game against Dynamos, then a trip to relegation-threatened ZPC Kariba, who rung technical changes, firing coach Godfrey Tamirepi and replacing him with Rodwell Dhlakama.

Bosso will then host Harare City.

So disappointing have Highlanders been that their only wins in the league were the 4-0 routing of seventh-placed Herentals and 3-0 dismissal of Yadah.

Sibanda yesterday said players are to blame for the costly mistakes they have been consistently making in every match.

Rodwell Dhlakama

“It’s not always about the coach because when we get onto the ground, the coach’s role is maybe 10 percent and the other 90 percent is us players. I think as players we have to take the blame because we miss chances; we fail to defend and the coach can’t do anything about that besides correcting those mistakes at training.

“As players we also have to apply ourselves fully. I think we have to take the blame because even with the statistics you’ve highlighted, we don’t need the coach to come and tell us about them, we have to find a way of turning around our fortunes. Our main worry, and I’m sure we share that with a number of people, is that we are drawing games we should be winning. This has to stop and we have to get our act together,” said Sibanda.

This is the second time this season that Sibanda has challenged his teammates to improve their performances after their 1-1 draw with Caps United on March 20.

Their game against FC Platinum was abandoned at 1-1 after letting slip a 1-0 lead, and last weekend Highlanders shared the spoils with Chicken Inn in a 1-1 deadlock.

“I know we’re in an unfamiliar territory. We belong at the top and we should be fighting up there. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we turn the tide in our favour. All it needs is for us to push an extra mile because really, we’ve disappointed those who have faith in us. We will rise, I know we will rise,” Sibanda said. — @ZililoR