Dear Madinda Ndlovu

Open letter to Madinda

By Mbekezeli Ncube

To Madinda Khathazile Ndlovu, I write this letter to you Ndlovini after hearing the news about your departure for greener pastures. I would like to express my gratitude to you for everything you have done for Highlanders, first as a on field player as a coach. You truly are a son of Highlanders, Your love for the seven time Zimbabwean champions is evident by your long term relationship with the people's team. You came back to coach the boys in black and white even though you were owed thousands of dollars from your previous stint with the team.

You are one of the players I first knew when I grew up as I heard my father, uncles and brothers bringing up your name when the word 'Highlanders' was mentioned.

Fast forward to 2017 you took over the reigns of the technical department from out going Erol Ekbay who is now at Ngezi Platinum and introduced your youthful side dubbed 'ECD' by the Bosso faithfuls and the Zimbabwean football lovers.

You promised to rebuild the Highlanders side which last won the most coveted piece of silverware in Zimbabwe over a decade ago, of which you did, the side has got a lot of talented players like current club to goal scorer Ariel Sibanda, Ray 'Ndorindori' Lunga, Peter Muduhwa just to mention a few but however you seem to be leaving a mansion you were building at window level.

As a journalist and Bosso fan, I can't say I am happy about your departure because I think you were the perfect man to bring Bosso back to their glory days just like when you were a player. However I am happy for you just because you found a new job abroad, it really shows that you are a great coach.

I remember in your first season in charge of Highlanders with your ECD players, the team managed to go for the first seven games unbeaten even though the team ended up settling for fifth spot at the end of the season.

You ended your one and a half stint at Bosso with a sweet victory over bitter rivals Dynamos 1-0 at Emagumeni, a feat that underscores your legendary status at 'Ezikamagebhula'.

Added to that, you never lost or drew against our arch rivals Dynamos, something that foreign coaches like Egyptian Mohamed Fathi, Kelvin Kaindu of Zambia failed to achieve.

In your 46 games in charge of Highlanders, you manage to grab 17 wins, 14 draws and 15 losses. Your players including goalkeeper Ariel 'Mangoye' Sibanda found the net 40 times while they were scored 39 and secured 65 points in total.

Have a safe journey and enjoy your stint in Botswana a country in which you won three league titles in a row with various topflight teams there. We hope you one day return to your boyhood team Eka Lotshe, Eka Matshobana. Have a good stay at Gaborone United.

*Mbekezeli Ncube is a journalist based in Bulawayo who works for Next Level Media. He writes in his capacity as a Bosso fan.

Mbekezeli.ncube24@gmail.com

@MbexMabuzaNcube