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Whither PSL big three?

Langton Nyakwenda

Zimpapers Sports Hub

THE last time giants Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United all finished in the top four on the Premier Soccer League log standings was in 2009, just over 15 years ago.

In that year, Gunners won the title, with Dynamos coming second ahead of CAPS United and Highlanders.

Three years prior, Bosso had won the league championship under Methembe Ndlovu, their last since then.

The Bulawayo giants have failed to achieve a top-four finish since 2016, when they finished third behind champions CAPS United and FC Platinum.

DeMbare have not lifted the championship trophy since Kalisto Pasuwa sealed his fourth on the trot in 2014, while Makepekepe last claimed the title in 2016.

FC Platinum (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022), Ngezi Platinum Stars (2023) and current champions Simba Bhora have won the ultimate prize in domestic football in the last seven years.

Last season, the Premiershipโ€™s traditional Big Three of Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United all failed to finish in the top four.

Highlanders finished sixth, Dynamos eighth and CAPS United ninth.

The giants are now playing second fiddle to an emerging new crop of teams, especially those owned by mining companies and individuals, who include FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars and Manica Diamonds.

Simba Bhora owner Simba Ndoro is heavily involved in gold buying and selling.

If the situation in the current transfer market is anything to go by, the Premiershipโ€™s traditional giants will likely fall further down the pecking order.

Newly promoted moneybags Scottland FC are bullying the giants on the transfer market, and the so-called Big Three are capitulating.

Highlanders have lost a couple of players to Scottland FC, including the influential pair of Peter Mudhuwa and 2024 Golden Boot winner Lynoth Chikuhwa.

Marvelous Chigumira and Godfrey Makaruse have also joined the Mabvuku side.

Dynamos lost defender Kevin Moyo to the same club, while CAPS United conceded 2024 Soccer Star of the Year finalists Godknows Murwira and Kingsley Mureremba.

DeMbare are the worst hit in the current transfer market, as they have lost almost 10 players.

The Moyo twins Kevin and Elvis, Tanaka Shandirwa, Donald Mudadi, Emmanuel Ziocha, Shadreck Nyahwa, skipper Frank Makarati, Issa Sadiki and the foreign duo of Emmanuel Paga and Sadyney Urikhob are no longer with the Glamour Boys.

With an unclear position on sponsorship, DeMbare are at their weakest and could also lose goalkeeper Martin Mapisa and 2024 Soccer Star of the Year finalist Emmanuel Jalai.

โ€œThe executive has remained mum on sponsorship and the future of key players like Jalai, whose contract expired in December, and itโ€™s very strange,โ€ a source said.

CAPS United chief executive officer Morton Dodzo fears the Big Three will slip further if they do not up their game.

โ€œWhat is happening is very common in any industry, particularly in a football ecosystem, so we have to adjust to the new trend and align ourselves to what is happening.

โ€œIn terms of finances, we are not strong compared to the other teams but we have to be more professional so that we are perceived in a positive light for us to attract sponsors,โ€ said Dodzo.

He thinks โ€œgoing back to basicsโ€ could save the traditional giants.

โ€œWe need to invest in club licensing. Once we are compliant, it means we have structures that include a sound junior policy.

โ€œJunior development is a very cost-effective way of doing things since we canโ€™t compete on the market with these moneyed teams.

โ€œBut I am sure the good days will bounce back,โ€ added Dodzo.

Dynamos chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze feels the traditional giants need โ€œto get out of the comfort zoneโ€.

He reckons that the arrival of moneyed teams could be a blessing in disguise.

โ€œThese moneybags help to raise the bar; they force other teams to change the way they do their things,โ€ says Mashingaidze.

โ€œBut we also need to make sure that as Dynamos we ring-fence our players in the sense that we offer competitive packages, which might not compare with the moneybags.โ€

Added Mashingaidze: โ€œWe need to strengthen the conveyor belt of talent by establishing viable youth teams. Back then, big teams used to survive on talent coming from within the system.

โ€œBecause if you go on the market, you will find expensive players and, in most cases, we canโ€™t compete with these emerging teams.โ€

Mashingaidze, however, feels there is need for regulation of transfer fees and wages for players.

โ€œBecause we could end up finding obscene figures being thrown around.

โ€œBut, at the end of the day, we need to adjust, restore some semblance of order so that we can also attract endorsement partners.โ€

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