Shoe on the other foot for Clever Boys

UPSIDE DOWN: BAROKA SOAR, WITS DOWN IN DUMPS

More questions than answers as the Students lurch along.

If anyone had been asked before the start of the Premier League which of Bidvest Wits University or Baroka FC would be at the top of the Absa Premiership before their meeting this season and who would be languishing in the relegation zone, an almost unanimous response would have suggested the defending champions would be in the driver’s seat.

Not so as their meeting in tomorrow approaches, with Baroka topping the table against all expectations and Wits in a secondbottom, relegation-threatened position with only one victory from their seven matches.

So could this “believe it or not” scenario become any more incredulous after their match-up in Polokwane? It could well be so.

One thing is for certain. Wits’ latest setback against Bloemfontein Celtic has only left the Students more confused and bewildered as to what has gone wrong after they had meticulously planned for bigger and better things in the follow-up season in the wake of their first championship triumph after 96 years of their existence.

CEO Jose Ferreira has declared that coach Gavin Hunt’s position is not in question.

Who would have thought that such an assurance would even be necessary regarding a coach who has basked in the limelight of success for more than a few years?

And, in any case, it’s nothing short of a time-worn tradition that a coach whose position is vehemently said to be assured, is, in fact, really in trouble.

But if not Hunt, what is behind Wits’ tumble? They appear to have secured all the players they wanted for the current season – after a search far-and-wide that has taken in the African continent.

Did Wits perhaps become a little complacent after there last season success and been caught with their pants down?

Possibly. And a revival is not out of the question. But Baroka are no easy meat and Wits would probably come away with a degree of satisfaction from the away clash against the new force in the PSL with a draw.

Something beyond anything one could have imagined a couple of months ago.