Ex-FCB Nyasa Big Bullets player, Chimango Kayira, says his side needs to be re-awakened if it is to stand up against tougher opponents.
Kayira said this after Bullets lost three Blantyre derbies against their arch-rivals, Mighty Wanderers, the latest being an FDH Bank Cup Semi-Final 1-0 defeat on Sunday at Kamuzu Stadium, courtesy of Promise Kamwendo’s header in the 89th minute.
Wanderers also defeated the People’s Team 3-0 in the TNM Super League on 26 October and 1-0 in the same league on 31 May, 2025.
He said the team has lost such games as it has been having problems this year because the current Coach, Peter Mponda, inherited a team that finished 3rd in the 2024 TNM Super League under former coach Kalisto Pasuwa’s final year.
In that season, Bullets racked up 55 points from 30 games and were 12 points behind the eventual champions, Silver Strikers, and three points behind Wanderers.
This was their first time not to lift the title since 2017, when they ended second with 67 points, 2 below Wanderers, who were first, and it was also one of their worst seasons after the 2013 one, when they ended 8th with 41 points.
Kayira said the team decided to recruit new players, but they have yet to play the Bullets’ way.
“Secondly, there has also been an ounce of tactical rigidity and lack of balance. Bullets have often looked very predictable in these three derbies. Back-to-back defeats burdened the weight of expectation. The mental block, the fear of losing again, sapped the team’s confidence,” he said.
Former Wanderers midfielder Lawrence ‘Tico-Tico’ Majawa said Bullets now do not stand a chance to win derbies.
“This season, Wanderers have been very good everywhere. I feel like trophies are eminent,” Majawa said.
The last time Wanderers managed to defeat Bullets in a season’s derby was in 2011, when they won 2-1 on 31 July, and a similar scoreline on 18 December 2011.
In 2011, Bullets ended 11th with 40 points from 28 games, in a league that had 15 teams by then. It was also one of their lowest scoring of points.
