VPL not a two-horse race: coach
Zubeiry Katwila is enjoying his place in the
sun as coach of Mtibwa Sugar, but the modest tactician still believes it is too
early for the club’s fans to start fantasizing about the championship.
Katwila has dismissed suggestions that the Mainland Premier League
is a two-horse race between the Morogoro-based side and Azam FC.
Mtibwa, a good team in almost all seasons, remain unruffled at the
summit of the log following a rich vein of form since the start of the 2017/16
Mainland Premier League season.
They have garnered 10 points from four matches and ooze experience
in the shape of midfielder Shaaban Nditi, defender Issa Rashid, striker Kissant
Khamis and Stamili Mbonde.
Mbonde was on target on Sunday when, for the first time since the
start of the season, they dropped two points after they battled to a 1-1 draw
with hosts Ruvu Shooting in Coast Region.
However, as the top-fight rolls into the fifth round this weekend,
Katwila has decided to remain grounded in morale. “We have just played four
matches out of 30. Yes, the team is doing well and we are on top of the log,
but to me it’s still too early to even think of the title,” says the Morogoro
side coach.
“I would rather keep telling my boys to take every game as it comes
then we will see. It’s never over until the last game of the league,” he
insists.
Azam FC assistant coach Idd Cheche, whose side squeezed a 1-0 win
over Lipuli FC at the Chamazi Complex on Sunday night, has similar views.
“We are in a competition with other teams and they also want to
beat us, so we are not talking of title as yet,” he says.
Second-placed Azam tie on 10 points with pace setters Mtibwa, but
they are behind on goal difference.
Newly promoted Singida United, who are under the tutelage of former
Young Africans head coach, Hans van Pluijm, sit third with nine points after
four outings.
Singida United have quality in both the technical department and
the players, and if they apply themselves to their full potential, just like
they are doing, then they are capable of making their presence felt in the
elite league.
Mainland giants Simba, who fluffed the chance to bounce back to the
top of the 16-team league table after dropping two vital points in their
two-all draw with Mbao FC in Mwanza last week, sit fourth with eight points.
But the Msimbazi Reds assistant coach, Jackson Mayanja, still believes they
have what it takes wrest back the top spot from Mtibwa.
“We do not want to prove anything to anyone and our job as coaches
is to motivate the players to do their best and enjoy themselves in the
campaign,” he says.
Fifth-placed Tanzania Prisons and defending champions Yanga also
have eight points each, but they are adrift of Simba on goal difference. Like
Mtibwa, Azam FC, Singida United, Simba and Prisons, title-holders Yanga also
have yet to taste defeat in the campaign.
Lipuli FC coach Amri Said, whose side lost 1-0 to Azam on Sunday
night, has laughed off suggestions that he is under pressure following the
Iringa-based team’s dismal performance in the league.
“We were playing very well even in the games we failed to collect
maximum points, we have good players who only need confidence to perform at the
highest level,” he says.
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