Manqele goes back to his roots

Edward Manqele (right) has gone back to where his professional career started as he looks rediscover his old self and the form which made him such an admirable striker over five years ago.

The former Kaizer Chiefs striker has rejoined Free State Stars where new coach Sammy Troughton believes the 29-year-old can still get back to being a top marksman.

Manqele signed for Stars in 2011. During his first stint, the Randfontein-born player scored 11 goals in the Absa Premiership.

His fine debut season in top-flight football saw a number of clubs asking for his signature, but it was the big-spending Mamelodi Sundowns who won the race and he joined the Chloorkop side.

However, things didn’t go well for Manqele as his career took a nosedive as he moved from one team to another. Manqele was kicked out of Chiefs earlier this year as he failed to make an impression.

“We are having a look at Edward and you know he has a big history with Free State Stars,” said Troughton. “But it’s been a while since he was impressive and the man has been discarded by a few teams. What we are doing at the moment is having a look at him to see if he can help. But it is up to him, I still believe he can make a comeback. It is possible, but at this stage we will have to take it on a weekly basis and make a decision probably after three weeks.”

Meanwhile, Troughton’s major concern at the moment is to find a suitable goalkeeper after Thela Ngobeni’s loan spell with the club ended.

And now with Sundowns having parted ways with Wayne Sandilands, the Stars coach adds that he doesn’t see Ngobeni coming back to the club and is already looking at two goalkeepers – Olivier Kwizera from Rwanda and Ivory Coast’s Sangare Ali.

“We’ve monitored the situation but unfortunately Sundowns have released Sandilands to Pirates, so that will end the deal.

“We have been taking a look at an Ivory Coast goalkeeper and a Rwandan and weighing up whether they are going to be good enough, but we will see.

“I think it is the most important position for any coach and we are desperate to get some quality in that position.”