Back to business as sides eye new season
ALMOST all the PSL clubs have reported back to preseason training. TimesLIVE takes an in-depth‚ club-by-club look at how they are shaping up as they prepare for the coming campaign‚ which starts in just over a month from now: fitness tests on Thursday and Friday. Their pre-season started on Monday. They have the Carling Black Label Cup pre-season match against Orlando Pirates on July 29. They will take part in the Bokone Bophirima Maize Cup at James Motlatsi Stadium in Orkney on July 15 against Platinum Stars‚ Free State Stars‚ Chiefs and Botswana league champions, Township Rollers. Just like their Tshwane rivals Sund Matsatsantsa A Pitori have had no off-season due to Nedbank Cup final‚ which they won by beating Orlando Pirates 4-1‚ and their participation in the Caf Confederation Cup. They are up against CF Mounana of Gabon at Atteridgeville on Sunday. They started their pre-season training last week Monday and caretakercoach Bernard Molekwa said City will continue with their preparations in Polokwane as they have not planned a camp outside Limpopo Province. The Team of Choice were one of the first sides to arrive for pre-season last week Tuesday. They will be based in Durban for the next two weeks before moving to Potchefst where they will set up a camp between July 23 and August 5. Players reported back last week Monday‚ where they started with fitness tests by physical trainer Pedro Picarro and physiotherapist Kyle Dougherty. Coach Clinton Larsen and his assistant-coach Mandla Ncikazi have been overseeing their preparations for the coming season. Just like Sundowns and SuperSport‚ Dikwena also have not had an offseason break because of their Caf Confederation Cup assignments. The Urban Warriors started their pre-season on Monday under the watchful eye of coach Stanley Menzo and will be in the Mother City until July 23 before moving to the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre for six days. As a result of the Nedbank Cup final loss to SuperSport in Durban last weekend‚ the Buccaneers will come back on July 14 for pre-season‚ which will be followed by the Carling Black Label Cup two weeks later at FNB Stadium. Players returned week Wednesday to training last and under caretaker- Lehlohonolo Seema‚ who has since been joined by new head coach Serbian Veselin Jelusic‚ who was announced on Monday. The Chilli Boys returned to work on Monday where coach Dan “Dance” Malesela was joined by new assistantTeboho Moloi‚ and it is not clear whether they will train in Port Elizabeth for the duration of their planning‚ or move to other places. The Ea Lla Koto players reported back almost two weeks ago and they have been joined by new coach Sammy Troughton and his assistant Sly Mosala‚ and they will also be playing in the Bokone Bophirima Maize Cup next weekend. They returned to training on Monday. Coach Kgoloko Thobejane and his new assistant‚ MacDonald Makhubedu‚ who has joined from Acornbush United in Mpumalanga‚ are finalising their preseason programme. Their future remains in the balance with AmaZulu on the verge of buying their PSL status‚ a deal that still has to be approved by the league‚ but the players reported to training at their base in Richards Bay on Monday. — TimesLIVE