Nkhatha confident United can turn things around

SUPERSPORT United coach Eric Tinkler took up the #MarkFishChallenge on Thursday by relaying the story of how he played along to being mistaken for former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey.

The #MarkFishChallenge took social media channels by storm this week after former Bafana defender Fish posted a picture of himself with Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, mistaking him for the late Hugh Masekela.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori are on a #MarkFishChallenge that’s on steroids, with a squad that should be challenging for the league but aren’t looking the part.

SuperSport are completely unrecognisable from the free-scoring team that looked like they could compete for the Absa Premiership after coming close to winning the Caf Confederation Cup just after lifting the MTN8.

The Tshwane giants now don’t even entertain the idea of contesting, let alone winning the championship.

“We have to be in the top eight first, before we can even talk about anything else,” SuperSport striker Kingston Nkhatha said.

Matsatsantsa will look to move from 11th place tonight by getting the better of Bidvest Wits at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

But it won’t be easy as the Clever Boys have problems of their own, going from champions to chumps who have even flirted with relegation. Their #MarkFishChallenge is worse.

“I don’t think there is much difference between us and the team we were last year,” Nkhatha said.

“The only change is that some of the guys’ confidence went down because we are not winning. When a team is not winning, obviously everyone’s confidence goes down.

“But at least now that we have been talking about it, everyone is trying to push hard. You could even see against Polokwane City that everyone was willing to put in the shift. Everyone was willing to grind for the team to win.

“So I think that the confidence is starting to come back slowly. When we start winning you will see the old SuperSport. I think the game against Polokwane was the turning point for us.”

SuperSport have registered just two wins in 12 matches since losing the Confederation Cup to TP Mazembe.

The main reason for that is their poor return in front of goals. Their scoring woes are made more difficult as their most prolific striker, Jeremy Brockie, has since jumped ship to join neighbours Mamelodi Sundowns, while Bradley Grobler and Thabo Mnyamane are injured.

Nkhatha is the only experienced striker the club has in their arsenal. But the Zimbabwean forward isn’t exactly prolific. The 32-year-old has 15 goals in 78 appearances at SuperSport.

Nkhatha spends more of his time grafting for his teammates to find goals than putting the ball in the back of the net himself.

He argues that helping the team win brings him more joy than seeing his name on the scoresheet.

That mind-set hasn’t won him many fans, especially at Kaizer Chiefs where a section of the club’s fans booed him for his poor return.

“We see football in a different way,” Nkhatha said.

“The roles are changing in modern football. The ones who understand football will tell you that this guy is doing this and that.

“It’s a pity that as strikers, we are judged by scoring. I can’t say much more about that. I am fine with what people say about me. People have a lot of opinions.

“But what you have to do is go out there and work for the team. It’s not about yourself. It’s about the team and the team appreciates my contribution, otherwise I wouldn’t have played so many matches.”