AFTER taking Monomotapa to a respectable top four finish in the Castle Lager Premiership, Biggie Zuze has been rewarded by being appointment as the team’s substantive coach for next season.
Zuze took over as caretaker coach in August after the club parted ways with Taurai Mangwiro.
The former Dynamos midfielder’s appointment follows Monomotapa’s strategic workshop held in Vumba on Friday and Saturday.
Club chairman Joseph Mukoki said yesterday they have given Zuze the leeway to recommend his own assistants.
Before being thrown into the deep end, Zuze, who also guided Monoz to a Mbada Diamonds runners-up slot had been working as an assistant to Mangwiro in the technical team that also included goalkeepers’ coach Nkululeko Dhlamini and manager Clayton Munemo.
Munemo has since been banished for 10 years from football over the Asiagate match-fixing scandal.
“We had a strategic retreat in Vumba and we looked at the past season mainly reviewing the technical team, the executive and the team itself.
“We did our SWOT analysis where we looked at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as Monomotapa.
“We looked at the technical team, the executive and the players.
“On the technical side, we resolved to confirm Zuze as the substantive coach,” said Mukoki.
It appears Zuze managed to charm the hearts of the executive committee by reaching the Mbada Diamonds Cup final where they, however, lost 2-0 to Dynamos.
Zuze also became the only the coach in the just ended season to beat Highlanders twice (in the league and cup).
“He will submit the names of possible assistants who can fit into the Monomotapa culture.
“George Jojo, who had been helping will now revert to his role as development coach,” Mukoki added.
Mukoko said his executive committee also needed to improve on their marketing and also enlarge their fan base.
Last week, Monomotapa, winners of the Premiership title in 2008, held trials for new players at Alex Sports Club with over 300 hopefuls trying their luck.