Mufulira Wanderers Chief Executive Officer Chimwemwe Manda says their inability to produce high calibre players has negatively impacted the club.

With the league expected to resume in three weeks’ time, Wanderers will once again face the nightmare of a possible relegation from Zambia’s top flight.

Manda, however, is of the view that one of the challenges that has pulled the club down include the inability to produce high calibre players who can represent Zambia at national level, playing for Chipolopolo. She said this when she featured on radio Phoenix, Monday.

“I think the challenge we have is that, you that (inability to supply players to the national side) has been a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it has given us time to have a good foundation, and it’s been a curse because somehow it has been pulling us behind. Instead of focusing on the future we tend to think more about what we used to have. For us to get back to that it’s not something which is going to happen within one, two or three seasons,” she said.

“It’s something we are planning to do in the next three or five years, we will be able to build on that because even if we were to produce high calibre players now, it doesn’t mean that player will be there two or three years down the line. For now we have started concentrating on our young Wanderers, that theme has always been there but we haven’t given it all our attention. We have to go back to our roots somehow. Then maybe five ten years, we can look back again and admire what the clubs will have produced. We are not looking at having miracle people who are there for two or three seasons and perform wonders and then leave.”

Manda revealed that Wanderers will soon unite supporters when it launches means through which fans on Facebook and WhatsApp can be streamlined.

“I think using replicas is not supported, it’s not a very good indicator. I think if you see a lot of replicas on the ground of clubs just know that the administration of that club is doing well. Let me just talk about my club, for the past two three years Wanderers has done so much to push out their replicas, I think you have seen it, but then maybe our planning, our strategy was not effective and that’s why you are finding that these other clubs are doing fine. But in response to unity, we do have plans of bringing everyone together. We will be launching something very shortly within a week or two and it will help us to streamline because as at now we have so many groups of supporters on Facebook, on WhatsApp and we don’t have something central for the club and that is what we will be able to bridge. We have a challenge with supporters in the diaspora but we will come up with a plan but let’s deal with our local one before we reach out.”