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Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau

CAPS United club president Farai Jere yesterday said the Green Machine remain one united family and dismissed as speculation news that coach Lloyd Chitembwe was on his way out. 

Jere yesterday said Chitembwe was committed to the club’s cause in their quest to win the Premiership football title. The 2016 championship-winning coach was conspicuous by his absence when Makepekepe were held to a 3-3 draw by TelOne at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Chitembwe was ruled out of the match through sickness but yesterday he attended a management meeting in which the club’s leadership laid down their plans for the upcoming Premiership break to pave way for the AFCON tournament. 

Jere said the recent poor run of results had given way to negative speculations. 

“CAPS United is a big brand and when things are not going the way people want, they come up with all sorts of theories so this is one of the theories which people came up with and I can tell you there are many other theories that have been flying around; that players are not being paid their bonuses and that there are problems at CAPS United, which in fact are not there. 

“Results have not been coming the way everyone would have liked, but it’s a phase which every team goes through. 

“From the beginning of the season to where we are, I can tell you confidently that the league is for us to lose. We have already fought our battle and we have put ourselves in a good position. 

“We are a point shy of FC Platinum, a position which we have not attained in the last two seasons at this stage, which means we are doing something right and that brought a lot of expectations but this is a competitive league. 

“We have had two consecutive defeats to good teams but on Sunday we picked a point which means we are on our way up again. It’s a phase but we are still at the top. People speculate but it’s not right to try and destabilise the brand,” said Jere.

Chitembwe last attended CAPS United’s training session on Thursday when he celebrated his 48th birthday with the team but was taken ill with a bout of flu.

“He is not feeling well. He had a cold and wanted to fully recover at home. Thursday was his birthday and he brought his cake to the training ground to share with his players.

“The coach missed the match because he was not feeling well. He is a human being and also falls sick.

 “We have discussed the recent results with the coach and soon the problem will be fixed, it is not a major problem and we are still with the leading pack so honestly there is no need to panic. The league race is a marathon. 

“The bottom line is we are a happy family and just like other families we might have our own differences but they are minor than what people may think out there. 

“There are some people out there who always feast on confusion. 

“We don’t want that to be created in our family. CAPS United is united as ever and we want to win the league title come the end of the season and we are not apologetic about that. We are happy with the progress so far and we are not worried going into the break,” said Jere.