BY FORTUNE MBELE HIGHLANDERS coach Baltemar Brito has said midfielder Joel “Josta” Ngodzo was laid off because he was underperforming.
While sources suggested that Ngodzo had differences with members of the technical team, Brito insisted that the decision to let him go was based on his contribution to the team.
On Wednesday the club announced that they had parted ways with Ngodzo by mutual consent. The midfielder has been linked a return to Caps United where he had a fruitful season in 2019 which saw him being crowned Soccer Star of the Year.
Brito does not care about Josta’s prominence and explained that the player was lacking technical qualities that are required in the team.
“Joel no longer belongs to our club. We wish him all the luck in the next project of his career. He was a professional player. We just decided to release him because we don’t mind about the status of a player, but we are only worried about performance and we felt that he could not fit what was required for the position that he played. We know that he is big but we don’t care about that status, we care about performance,” Brito said.
“Maybe he can go to any other club and do well because he is not a bad player. It was only a technical decision. We looked at him and we said: ‘He doesn’t have the pace and the background that we need for that position’ and we said he had better go to another club for the betterment of his career.”
Highlanders also announced the promotion of three players from the juniors into the senior team.
Daniel Msendami has been recalled from a lower division side club Vumbachikwe where he was on loan.
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Msendami (22) is a right winger.
Also promoted is midfielder Mason Mushore, who joined developmental side Bosso 90 from Northern Region Division One side Golden Arrows, has been elevated to the senior team.
The 20-year-old Mushore scored three goals for Bosso 90 in four games playing at the base of the midfield.
Nigel Ncube, a 19-year-old defender also joins the team from the development side.
“Before we made the promotions, we had conversations with the people who work with the developmental team and they gave us a good reference on the players. Not only about how they play because we have also been watching the side in their games and in training sessions. They are good players and youthful. We looked at them and have said instead of going outside, our focus is, if we have quality within, the first port of call will be to look within. If we do not get what we want and then maybe we can go outside. But we found good players who can be part of the squad and the club decided to bring them on board,” Brito said.
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