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Teddy Beto

I WRITE this mindful of the fact that l, together with other fans, never doubted your capabilities from the day you got the CAPS United job but also cognisant of the fact that there are some among us who were against your appointment.This group ensured they made life hell for you when you arrived at the Green Machine.

As fans we cannot run away from the fact that there were others, among us, who never wanted to see you at the Green Machine.

This group, among us, judged you from your previous term at CAPS in which a comedian named Sean Connor made a huge mockery of everything called CAPS United.

They also said you were struggling in Division One with a team called Starbill and, as such, it defied logic to appoint you as the man in charge of CAPS United.

But coach, in your first full season in charge, you have proved beyond any iota of doubt that you are indeed a Messiah to the Green Machine cause, a true hero to us and a living legend who has brought smiles to the success-starved CAPS United fans across the globe.

Words cannot explain how we, as fans, are grateful but as you prepare to finish the job l felt it necessary to write this letter and tell you that on behalf the CAPS United fans, we are sorry for ever doubting you as a coach.

We are sorry for calling you names and using words on social media debates, especially on Facebook, which can’t be printed in this family newspaper, when it came clear that your name was among the favourites to replace Taurai Mangwiro.

I know being the humble man that you are, you read, heard and saw some of these nasty comments but you never responded or thought of fighting back.

The debate was among CAPS supporters who had been divided into two distinct camps – those for you coach Lodza (better known as rebels) and those who were against your appointment (known as the bootlickers).

The camp that supported you did so on the pretext that for CAPS to succeed it must appoint a former son as head coach and with not many former CAPS players taking up coaching as a profession your name came naturally as the leading candidate.

Then the camp that was against your appointment looked at history and said you had not achieved anything as a coach and said on the previous four occasions when we were crowned champions we had no former sons as head coaches.

This camp, therefore, dismissed this whole idea of a former son taking charge of our club.

This sparked fierce debates on social media with some becoming too personal. However you chose to respond through results on the field of play and this has shown us that football is a true unifier and l cannot believe it when I now see fans from the two camps now sitting side-by-side watching the team play.

This is not meant to open old wounds and, therefore, l will not talk much about the old debate.

I will just ask for your forgiveness and say sorry again.

You have shown us that your love for the Green Machine is unrivalled.

This season you have given us some special results that we will tell our children’s children when we are old.

The great comeback against our eternal rivals Dynamos, the last-minute winner against How Mine are results for the archives. We are sorry for doubting you coach and for ever thinking that former CAPS United supporters cannot be good coaches.

Our plea is for you is to forgive us and as we celebrate our success this year let’s do it on a clean chapter and bury our differences.

May you also mentor more players so that they take over when you decide to leave coaching to protect the Green Machine legacy.

Teddy Beto is a CAPS United fanatic based in Chipinge