Baroka succeeded as they were well rested

Congratulations to Baroka FC for retaining their Absa Premiership status, you could see their players were determined to stay in the top flight and rectify the mistakes that saw them nearly relegated.

These promotion play-offs worked in their favour compared to Stellenbosch and Black Leopards, because the Premiership finished earlier than the NFD, they enjoyed a bit more time in terms of preparing their team for the play-offs.

However, I believe teams should be directly relegated because in this case, Leopards played well in the NFD, collecting 50 points from 30 games, while Baroka only won five games in 30 but yet survived. That is a bit of an injustice.

But maybe that system would work if we had an 18-team league, then we could have two teams automatically relegated and one going through the play-offs.

One of the things that needs to be done concerning the quality of the NFD is that it needs a financial injection so that it can be much more professional. The standard of the Premiership is way too high compared to the NFD, and that gap needs to be reduced so that teams can be on the same level in terms of the quality on and off the pitch, with the status being the only difference.

On to AmaZulu’s supposed purchase of Thanda Royal Zulu – I believe that buying a team is not a bad thing, but it becomes a problem when you buy the status of another club. It is a bad trend because everyone wants to buy now. This compromises the quality of our football. And we have seen the teams that have bought statuses. On average, they only survive for about three years at the top and are relegated again.

This trend takes away the competitive spirit of the game because everyone knows that once they get relegated they can just go and buy their way back to the top. And this does not only compromise the competitiveness, it also results in fans no longer going to games. Teams need to make sure that once they are out, they must work hard and be patient as they bid return to the top flight.

I would like to congratulate Benni McCarthy on his appointment as head coach of Cape Town City. He ticks all of the right boxes for a debutant, he has the playing experience, he has the coaching knowledge, and he has the personality. It will only depend on how he manages his players. I think he can do well in the league with all those attributes.

As young as he is, I believe he will know that the most important thing in managing a young group of players is that he has to keep them motivated, and that will be critical. I don’t think he will struggle much as a coach, although he may encounter a bit of difficulty as he is starting his coaching career. His success will also depend on the quality of his technical team.

Finally, I wish all the best for Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United – they have what it takes to advance to the knockout stages of the Caf Champions League and Caf Confederation Cup. For Platinum Stars, my advice to them is that they should continue being professional although their chances of advancing to the next stage have been dashed. They should continue learning from this experience.