Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MANICA Diamonds is yet to achieve success by winning a major trophy in the FOUR years that they have been part of the country’s top-flight premiership league, despite having an avalanche of financial and material resources at their disposal.
While some of the club’s sympathisers will hasten to talk of the need for patience, and giving the coach and his players more time, Ngezi Platinum Stars, a team that has mastered the art of skipping hurdles to storm into Chibuku Super Cup finals since their promotion into Zimbabwe’s top-flight football in 2016, won the knockout cup competition the same year they made their Premiership debut.
Ngezi were still in the Northern Region Soccer League when Delta Beverages and the Premier Soccer League thrashed a deal to bring back the country’s biggest knockout competition in 2014.
Two years later, Ngezi were eligible to compete in the Chibuku Super Cup, and arrived with a bang, winning the knockout tournament right in their first attempt.
The Mhondoro miners have since clipped five appearances in the finals, the most by any team in the Premiership.
But somehow, some still find a reason to call for patience for the Mutare-based underachievers called Manica Diamonds!
Typical of the game of football, Manica Diamonds coach, Jairos Tapera, needs to live with the reality that if a team fails to achieve, you do not fire the entire squad, but rather sacrifice the coach.
It is the coach who faces the blame when the team underperforms, and in the same measure, earns praises and kudos when it wins accolades.
Whether the former Warriors and Young Warriors coach survives in his job, it is for the executive to decide, but one thing that the executive cannot ignore is the anger among its legions of followers.
There is simply no return on investment made under Jairos Tapera!
No doubt, Manica Diamonds are one of the well-financed clubs, if not the best, in the entire Castle Lager Premiership, with winning bonuses pegged at US$500.
The US$500 winning bonus is a living testimony of the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC)’s unwavering commitment to motivating players and coaches.
The big question is what value is ZCDC accruing from such religious and massive investment at the end of the day?
Instead, Manica Diamonds have now endured four Castle Lager Premiership seasons — backdating to 2019 when they ended on 5th position, before settling for an unimpressive 10th position in 2022 — without a silverware.
Last season, Manica Diamonds ended the season on second position, which still was not good enough to earn themselves the decorated championship.
Over these years, the not-so-shiny Gem Boys have also failed to win the league’s sole cup knockout cup competition — Chibuku Super Cup — let alone making it to its prestigious finals.
Theirs has been a case of, so near yet so far, an expression regret or sadness when one got very close to achieving what you wanted, but in the end, just failed. It was a crushing experience to have victory snatched away in such a desperate manner.
In fact, it is heart-breaking to be so near, and yet so far.
As the curtain comes down on the 2024 Castle Lager Premiership season, with only four rounds of league matches remaining, Manica Diamonds’ title hopes have been extinguished.
Their promising Premier Soccer League title campaign, has all, but ended in disappointment after needlessly dropping crucial points along the way.
Just like last season, Manica Diamonds flattered to deceive as they dominated the league, spending months on top of the log standings, only to flatter where it matters most, and start dropping points, including in some matches the club was least expected to lose or draw.
Hopes for a league title silverware were dashed a few weeks ago as the Mutare outfit bowed out of title contention after as the gap between them and log leaders, Simba Bhora widened, mathematically leaving the diamond miners unable to assail the Tonderai Ndiraya-coached outfit.
As if that was enough, Manica Diamonds was knocked out of Chibuku Super Cup semi-finals by Harare giants, Dynamos last Sunday – the only other hope they had for a silverware this season.
The Mutare side will now complete this season empty-handed.
Manica Diamonds chairman, Masimba Chihowa said the club is equally concerned with its failure to win a trophy — one of the set targets for this season.
Chihowa said corporate decisions are not made by one person, therefore the club leadership, will sit down and map the way forward in unison.
“There is no doubt that the club — Manica Diamonds — is equally concerned with the failure to win a trophy, as this was one of our targets set for this season. Even in previous seasons, it has been one of the targets.
“We also understand the concerns of our fans because this is their club. They want to celebrate success.
Therefore, we will duly sit down, and find what is best for the club. Corporate decisions are not made by an individual, and therefore, the club leadership will definitely sit down and map the way forward in unison,” he said.
