CHE Malone Fondoh is excited by Simba’s blend of youth and experience and hopes it can propel them to success this season.

Following another underwhelming campaign that saw the club miss out on the CAF Champions League and finish eleven points behind champions Young Africans, there has been a squad overhaul at Simba.

Experienced players like Saido Ntibazonkiza, John Bocco, Kennedy Juma, Henock Inonga, and Clatous Chama are no longer part of the squad for the new season.

Instead, Simba has brought in young talents like Nigerian midfielder Augustine Okejepha (20), who was recently signed from Rivers United, and Abdulrazack Hamza (21), signed from South Africa’s SuperSport United. 

Other young signings include Joshua Mutale, Jean Ahoua, and Valentino Mashaka, all aged 22.

In an interview with the club's media department, Che Malone expressed his excitement about the new additions and the young talent in the squad, complemented by experienced players like Mohamed Hussein and Shomari Kapombe.

“This season I believe will be tougher than the last one so we need to prepare very well. We still have about three weeks to go and I believe everyone is ready. Everybody is ready because the training staff are very friendly and open to all, they are here to give us the necessary push. We need to be able to be at 100% before the season starts.

“I know everything will be fine this season. In every team, there must always be changes but we just hope there will be positive for the team.

“We have a new technical bench with a young coach and staff who are there to direct the players, to show them the right path starting with discipline. I believe in any football team without discipline there can be no progress.

“The new players are also young. We also have experienced players among them who I believe will help us this season. We need to mix both experience and youthfulness to balance the team so the recruitment process this season is very good.

“We have trained for a short time but we can see the synergy between the old and new players like we have been together for a long time. We learn new things every day and we get closer and closer to each other,” he said.