Chiefs, Pirates are being left behind in the transfer market

Carl Peters

WHAT hope is there for the two biggest clubs in the land, Chiefs and Pirates, and their millions of fans at home and across the border when other sides continue to make bolder headlines during transfer windows, particular Sundowns?

Do the two Soweto giants have to learn to become shrewder in the transfer market?

Are they making optimum use of their massive popularity and huge sponsorship deals?

Do they need new technical directors, an improvement in scouting networks and a broad- ening of contacts beyond their old connections and trusted agents?

These questions have become more pertinent since Sundowns again stole the limelight during the latest transfer window and after Wits and SuperSport also appeared to have done niftier business than Chiefs and Pirates.

Even modest, unsponsored clubs like Golden Arrows and Maritzburg United might be able to claim to have done relatively better than the two Soweto giants in the latest window that ended on Wednesday as far as resources go.

They may not finisher higher than the two Soweto giants in the final standings, but they might have a comparatively better outcome in terms of available finances.

Of course, the “Soweto Slowdown” is highlighted by the fact that this coming weekend’s MTN8 semi-finals will have the rare absence of Amakhosi and Bucs on the bill.

While the two Soweto giants were not completely scoreless in the latest transfer window – Pirates got two of the best under-23s in Abbubaker Mobara and Riyaad Norodien among their recruits; Chiefs had Sundowns star Ramahlwe Mphahlele in their basket – the bulk of the biggest, or “wow”, transfers did not involve them.

Among these were Sibusiso Vilakazi (to Sundowns), Anele Ngcongca (Sundowns), Tefu Mashamaite ( SuperSport), Mogakolodi Ngele (Wits), Gabadinho Mhango (Wits), Lucky Mohomi (Sundowns) and Cuthbert Malajila (Wits).

Pretoria rich boys Sundowns also scooped two rated foreigners in 29-year-old defender Ricardo Nascimento of Brazil and 25-year-old attacker Krahire Yannick from Ivory Coast.

Aside from Sundowns’ massive kwachas, it seems important for the Motaung clan at Chiefs and Khoza family at Pirates to be ever mindful that Wits and SuperSport have two very shrewd operators in their offices in Jose Ferreira and Stan Matthews respectively.

These guys can make coaches’ lives much easier when it comes to snapping up good players, because they have a reputation for being “masters of contracts”.

Another reality is that top players can earn very good money at Wits and SuperSport while enjoying far less fan pressure than Chiefs and Pirates players.

It is interesting to note that instead of Amakhosi growing stronger under coach Steve Komphela, their former title-winning coach Stuart Baxter has built a mini-Chiefs at SuperSport that includes Reyaad Pieterse, Morgan Gould and Reneilwe Letsholonyane – all handy players.

However, the thrill of playing in front of huge crowds is something that few clubs can offer to top players in this country, and this is just one thing that seems to need a bigger space in the briefcases of the Soweto giants when negotiating player deals.

But even before that, they have to find those hot players and coaches before others do, if they want to reclaim some of those big transfer headlines.

This seems to require an effective combination of socalled football brains and strong business acumen.

Chiefs and Pirates fans must feel they deserve better.