HIGHLANDERS have endured a long Premiership football title drought spell since their triumph back in 2006.
And the Bulawayo giants will be looking to roll back the good times at Barbourfields in the upcoming season with the roping in of club legend Madinda Ndlovu to deputise Baltemar Brito.
The former speedy winger will also be in charge of junior development at the club he has served with distinction together with his siblings Peter, who is widely regarded as the best ever player to emerge from Zimbabwe, and the late Adam. Madinda hasn't won the league with Highlanders before but he is credited with laying the foundation for the record four consecutive titles achieved under the late Eddie May and Rahman Gumbo between 1999 and 2002.
It is also the former Warriors man who put together the triumphant 2006 crop which won the last league title under Mkhupali Masuku.
Madinda was the Bosso coach in 2005 and polished the raw diamonds, including Marshal Machazane, Zephania Ngodzo, Honour Gombami and Eric Mudzingwa who were all part of the 2006 victorious team.
And his coming in as an assistant to Brito is being seen as a huge move in Bosso's bid to finally end their championship drought.
The Portuguese gaffer has welcomed Madinda whose institutional memory of Highlanders is beyond any doubt.
With Bosso showing their intent, Brito has decided to play his cards closer to his chest.
The soft-spoken gaffer, whose English is not very good, told The Herald yesterday winning the league title this season will be a huge bonus as he is still getting used to the environment and developing the players.
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"The good thing is that we have managed to have most of the players we had last season. It's a very good thing to have the same players for another season. It is an advantage for us," he said.
"Winning the league title? I don't think we have played together for a long enough time. I have been at Highlanders I think for a short period now. I am impressed by the environment, the players and the fans.
"I think they will be very happy if we win trophies for the team. But to say we are winning the title now, I think it will be a bit overambitious. We are building in stages. We have the right players but we need to be together for some time. "We will see what happens as we go into the season but the aim is to play good football, bring results and make the fans happy."
Brito said although midfielder Divine Mhindirira had shown some truant behaviour, he remains a key player at Bosso who the team cannot afford to lose, at least at this juncture.
Mhindirira looked so much on his way out of the Bulawayo giants in January as he bunked training together with Adrian Silla, who has since transferred to CAPS United.
But Brito said he insisted the Soccer Star of the Year finalist be pardoned as he wanted to build a strong team.
"He (Mhindirira) is a very good player. He is one of the best but the behaviour at times is not the best. Sometimes footballers are like that but they always become normal again.
"So we said, Mhindirira should be in the team. If we want to play well, we should have our best players in the team. I am happy, the team is doing well in the pre-season and we are looking good." Bosso have retained the majority of the squad which did duty last term.
