Sundowns’ shock loss good for the local game

The Absa Premiership is wide open now. Had Mamelodi Sundowns won their game against Kaizer Chiefs, that was going to put more pressure on Chiefs and was going to dent their title aspirations. But after beating Sundowns, it has increased their chances of winning the title.

On the other hand, it is exciting to see teams like SuperSport United losing to opponents that one never thought they might lose against. For them to lose, it also creates that excitement up there among the top five teams who are vying for the championship.

Even though they lost 1-0 to Baroka FC, the gap is not that wide. Even Bidvest Wits’ win makes the competition more exciting, especially now with Sundowns losing.

If Chiefs had lost, it would have had a negative effect psychologically on the technical team, the players and the fans.

The exciting thing is that this league looks set to go down to the wire, it looks likely to be decided on the last day if not the second last round of the league. It is not going to be smooth sailing for one team like it did when Sundowns opened up a huge gap last time around.

Meanwhile, to see Orlando Pirates lose 3-2 to Free State Stars was heart-breaking because right now they are in relegation danger – and that is a fact.

It is now a matter of the technical team being able to focus on the conditioning of the players. When you assess them individually, you can easily see they are not wellconditioned.

That is not the fault of the technical team, it is the fault of the players themselves. I know for a fact that they train almost every day, but what is letting them down is their lifestyle.

Those players have talent, but they are not really fit, and once a player is unfit and not looking after himself, he is not going to be able to carry on and implement instructions that the technical team impose.

Lastly, it is sad to see a team like Moroka Swallows, who have a stellar history in South African football, get relegated from the ABC Motsepe League. What makes it worse is that they are not even close any more to the National First Division. There would have been hope that they could return to the Premiership.

But then again, this is when we as football people will need to stand up and ask questions – such as – what has led to Swallows finding themselves in this sad situation?

It should be a lesson, not only for the club’s owners, but for the rest of the clubs because proper management is the key to running a successful club. It is no longer

like running a club for fun, it is a business. And as such, we need to have a better approach in running our businesses. That is the lesson that everyone should take from this.

But, Swallows can still add value, and I am appealing to whoever is running the club at this present time – let them not feel down. Yes, they must feel disappointed with what has happened with their team.

But for a big club to be present at a grassroots level on those dusty grounds, it will motivate a lot of teams that they will be playing against because this is a wellknown team with a huge history. It will motivate their opponents to play harder and be more organised. I am appealing to the owners of Swallows to continue to be professional.