Luke Masomere
Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
UNDER-FIRE How Mine coach Luke Masomere yesterday threw in the towel following a string of poor results that saw the expensively assembled gold miners failing to register a single win in seven outings. It was not immediately clear last night who would replace him, with Botswana-based Rahman Gumbo and Harare City assistant coach Mkhuphali Masuku among the favourites.
The last straw for Masomere could have been the consecutive defeats to debutants Tsholotsho (1-2) and on-fire FC Platinum (0-3). The game against the platinum miners was played at Luveve Stadium on Wednesday. “I have resigned as How Mine coach because of poor results,” said Masomere yesterday.
Club chairman Alpha Matumbura last night said the disengagement with Masomere was amicable. “We’ve accepted his resignation. Results have been eluding us in the second half of the season and some action just had to be taken, otherwise two more losses would have found us in the relegation zone. As a club, we really appreciate the good work that Masomere did and wish him well wherever he goes,” said Matumbura.
Masomere blamed Wednesday’s heavy loss to what he termed the club’s terrible recruitment strategy of roping in players past their sell by date. “Age is catching up with most of our guys. We erred as a club in our recruitment exercise by bringing players, who had passed their peak,” he said.
The gold miners were touted as strong title contenders after they made a number of big name signings during the offseason. However, eyebrows were raised when they signed an injured Tawanda Muparati who had not been registered by his own club Dynamos as a result of his injuries.
He has so far played less than 30 minutes of football at the gold miners, coming on as a substitute in the last two matches.