Ajax, City need to turn things around quickly
THE GLARE of the spotlight is pointed firmly in the direction of Ajax Cape Town head coach Stanley Menzo. Unfortunately, in struggling teams, invariably the buck stops with the coach.
Menzo been in charge of Ajax for a year now. Initially, he made a great impact after replacing Roger de Sa, but it hasn’t looked good for quite a while now. No doubt, both the big bosses at Ajax Amsterdam and the local head honchos in the Cape are very concerned.
Overall, it hasn’t been the best of times for the Mother City’s two PSL clubs.
On Wednesday night, Ajax lost 2-0 to Free State Stars in Bethlehem – and, seven games into the season, they are languishing third-from-bottom on the standings, having accumulated just five points. Cape Town City lost 1-0 to Bloemfontein Celtic and, like neighbours Ajax, they need to turn things around, and quickly too.
Ajax host Celtic at Athlone Stadium tomorrow night (8.15pm kickoff ), while City are in East London to take on Chippa United on Sunday afternoon (3.30pm kickoff). For Ajax, victory is paramount for two reasons: to calm the team’s relegation fears and, at the same time, to ease the pressure on Menzo. For City, who are in fifth position on the PSL log with 12 points from seven games, victory is essential if they want to stay in touch with the other title challengers.
Menzo must, by now, be feeling the heat. The likeable Suriname-born, former Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper has seen and done it all as a player. He’s a professional right down to his toes, so he understands the peculiar dynamics and difficulties of being a football coach – and he will know why his job is now in the glare of the media spotlight. Rest assured, the fixture against Celtic could well be make or break for Menzo.
As such, for the beleaguered Ajax coach and squad, the best way to respond is a convincing performance and a winning result against the Bloemfontein team.
As for City, coach Benni McCarthy wasn’t a happy chappy after the defeat to the Bloemfontein side.
In former Cape club Chippa, though, the City coach is aware that he is up against a tough opponent.
“Another difficult challenge,” said McCarthy about Chippa. “They are a very good footballing side. Against Celtic on Tuesday, we were up against a physical, aggressive team, now we have the opposite, in that Chippa are more nippy, more quick and tricky, but just as dangerous. They are good on the ball and, for us, it just gets tougher.
“All in all, though, we have to change our fortunes after the two defeats, and we just have to make sure that we do better.”
PSL fixtures
Tomorrow: Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates; Golden Arrows v Polokwane City; Mamelodi Sundowns v AmaZulu; Ajax Cape Town v Bloemfontein Celtic (Athlone Stadium, 8.15pm); Free State Stars v Platinum Stars;
Sunday: Chippa United v Cape Town City (Sisa Dukashe Stadium, 3.30pm); Baroka FC v Bidvest Wits