The Sunday News
Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS coach Erol Akbay might be enjoying his break in his native Netherlands but that has not stopped him making his wish for 2017 with his greatest desire being to have new strikers at Bosso this coming season.
Akbay, who led Highlanders to a third place finish in his first season said in as much as there are certain players he has an interest in, lack of funds at Bosso mean that he cannot have them. Because of that, the Dutchman feels that Bosso will not be as strong as they were in 2016 which saw them challenge for the championship, lose in the Independence Cup final, reach the Chibuku Super Cup semi-finals and defend the Zimbabwe National Army Commander’s Charities Shield.
“I have players that I want but there was no money to contract them. That way I think our team will not be as strong as it was in 2016. We will see what happens in the new year if we have more money from the sponsor,’’ said Akbay.
Without mentioning names, Akbay made it clear that he needs two or three strikers to bolster the Bosso attack for the 2017 season.
“We need strikers that’s most important, minimum two or three,’’ he said.
Last season Highlanders scored 41 league goals, the bulk of them coming from the midfield department. Bruce Kangwa, moved from defence to attack by Akbay was the leading goal scorer in the league for Bosso with seven goals despite having left to join Tanzanian club Azam in August. Midfielder Simon Munawa and young striker Prince Dube managed five league goals each. Knox Mutizwa, who left Highlanders for South African Premiership side Bidvest Wits found the target four times in the league.
Nhlanhla Ndlovu was brought in during the mid-season transfer window but he could not add much to the firepower upfront as he missed a number of matches through injury. Veteran Ralph Matema scored a number of crucial goals coming in as a substitute but disappointed at the crucial stage for Bosso.
Highlanders have shown interest in Hwange striker Gift Mbweti who was said to be also targeted by the country’s representatives in Confederation of African Football competitions.
Akbay is due to return to the country on 3 February and is hopeful that by then Bosso would have renewed their sponsorship deal with BancABC or found another bankroller. The Dutchman was hired on a two-year contract by Highlanders with his mandate for the first season being to finish in the top four, something he achieved and could have surpassed by winning the championship had his side not stumbled in the last three matches of the season which saw them suffer a shock 2-1 defeat to Tsholotsho and an embarrassing 3-0 loss to FC Platinum before they ended the campaign on a bright note with a 3-0 victory over Hwange.
@Mdawini_29
