Should Chiefs build around Dolly?
The fact is, when you spend R1 million a month on a player, you simply have to build the entire team around his skill-set, preferred position and everything else.
That player needs to be the first name on the teamsheet every week and be expected to produce match-winning moments. Right now, it’s a very valid question whether Dolly is even in Chiefs’ best XI when fit. Nkosingiphile Ngcobo looks more suited to playing as a number 10 – something Dolly hasn’t done regularly in his career to a high level – so it’s a toss-up between Saile and Dolly for the right winger role.
When the Westbury-born winger was playing his best football for Chiefs, it was when Njabulo Blom was behind him at right back under Baxter. Dolly was playing almost as a specialist “inside right”, taking up position in the half-space whilst Blom overlapped with great energy. Many of the assists from Dolly were slide rule passes or crosses from that inside pocket for runners.
Reeve Frosler hasn’t really built the same understanding with Dolly.
It does feel like Dolly has not really fulfilled his potential. He has arguably only had one truly top-class season in his whole career and to be sitting on 23 Bafana Bafana caps at the age of 31 is a real let-down for his talent levels. When we looked at his form in his first year, he raced to seven league goals in 20 league matches, a best-ever scoring return in his career.
He was setting up goals regularly at that stage with five assists and he was an active dribbler and was creating the most chances in the whole PSL, along with Khama Billiat, Deon Hotto and Junior Mendieta. All of that was pretty impressive considering his initial weight issues which Baxter spoke about. Right now, he also looks a bit too heavy in terms of muscle and body fat.
Billiat bullet dodged – a repeat
The situation right now is not dissimilar to that which the Naturena-based side faced in June with Billiat. The Zimbabwean was said to be earning around R10 million per annum and media reports suggested that he was offered a significant wage reduction to remain.
Billiat decided to go AWOL and not accept the proposed contract. Considering his under-performance for an extended period, it was arguably a blessing in disguise for Chiefs that he didn’t agree terms. At least Amakhosi took a stand and didn’t offer him the same salary.
Could they follow the same route with Dolly? It would be insane to renew his contract for the same salary considering the lack of ROI (Return on Investment) they’ve received for the approximately R36 million spent on Dolly’s salary package so far.