AmaTuks want Bacela popping up for them in the 18-area

WHAT was meant to be a marquee signing for the University of Pretoria has turned out to be nothing more than a glorified tent, offering them practically no protection from the elements as they struggle.

It doesn’t help that Lennox Bacela is seen more in VIP marquees and music videos and less in the top goal-scorer’s charts. One goal in eight matches doesn’t inspire much confidence, especially from a striker with a Caf Champions League silver medal.

But that’s what Bacela has given AmaTuks in return for their investment in him that makes him one of the top earners at the club.

AmaTuks chief executive Rendani Mulaudzi said on radio that the club is tired of reading more about Bacela on gossip pages than they do on back pages.

Coach Sammy Troughton has a reason why Bacela has struggled to make an impact at AmaTuks, unlike he did when he was with Orlando Pirates.

“Bacela is a smart striker, he likes to get involved in the build-up and is a good player of the ball,” Troughton said. “The problem is that as a club we have never had a striker like him. We have had the Mame Niangs and Geoffrey Massas of this world, conventional target men who use their strength and height to beat defenders.

“Bacela wants to use his feet but the way the ball has been played to him doesn’t match that. Once we get that right, he will start delivering.”

That would explain why Thabo Mnyamane went from a national team player last season to getting lost on the pitch with only two goals this season.

In the last campaign, he had the physical Massa to feed off while this season he has Bacela who is similar to him, as is Getaneh Kebede.

Wits’ Daine Klate, with his six goals, has as many goals as the entire AmaTuks team who have the worst strike rate in the country.

Troughton will hope they change that tonight when they take on Bacela’s former team, Orlando Pirates, at Orlando Stadium.

“I had an extensive chat with Bacela and Mnyamane when I conducted one-on-one sessions with the players before our first game of the year,” Troughton said. “I told them that they must come to the party. Their reaction was very positive because they even told me their personal targets which if they achieved, would help the team get out of this position that we’re in.”

Pirates are looking for the same thing, moving up from 12th position with just five points separating them from bottom-placed Maritzburg United. Their problems aren’t just because of their poor showing up front, that’s part of it as they recover from their gruelling Caf Confederation Cup campaign.

Bacela started that African sojourn with the Buccaneers but left halfway through to join AmaTuks in July. Pirates, nonetheless, presented him with a Confederation Cup silver medal as he was still registered with the Soweto giants in the tournament when they finished as runners-up in November last year.

That gesture touched Bacela, making the club – where he finished as their top goal-scorer in his debut season with them – endear itself even more to the 32-year-old.

“That’s where sentiments will end as the forward needs to start giving the club value for their money,” Troughton said.

“We have been asking for more consistency from him. There is no doubt that he is a good player. He needs to influence things a lot more in the team.”