FORMER Highlanders player and coach, Cosmas Zulu believes there is no talent at the club to wage a meaningful title contest. Highlanders suffered a second consecutive defeat in the Castle Lager Premiership race after losing 3-2 to Caps United in a match they led 2-0 at some stage. In an interview last night Zulu said the club lacks depth so much that coaches are found wanting when it comes to substituting.
Last week Bosso coach Kelvin Kaindu told the media that at times he has had to carry everyone who would have trained that week because there won’t be other players. His situation has been exacerbated by regular injuries and suspensions. Zulu whose association with Highlanders dates back to 1981 after stints with Combined Midlands, Bushbucks, Archer Olympics, and Zimbabwe Saints, said making a substitution is a key technical component of a coach’s prowess.
He said it is never an exercise done for the fun of it but serves to get the team playing better towards a positive result. He said Highlanders had deviated from its history where substitutes had always come in to make a difference. “Admittedly the club is thin on talent.
It does not compare with any generation. Highlanders has in the past been a club that could easily field two teams with devastating effect on the same day. Nowadays we do not find that at the club.
There is a need for better work in talent identification and scouting. “Highlanders has had its own playing template which has defined who we are over .