Thobejane confident
BAROKA COACH: HE IS STICKING TO HIS GUNS, EVEN PREDICTING TROPHIES
Club have signed striker Lewis Macha from Chiefs.
At the start of last season, Kgoloko Thobejane raised eyebrows when he made the bold statement that his then newly-promoted Baroka FC side were going for Absa Premiership honours.
When the real script unfolded, it turned out to be quite the opposite as Bakgaga escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth.
This time the outspoken Thobejane is sticking to his guns; only this time he is adding a couple of trophies to his bucket list.
“Our ambition is to win cups, everything that is there to win in the Premier Soccer League we want to win it,” he told Phakaaathi.
The former primary school teacher had a horrendous maiden season in top-flight football where he was – at one point – asked to step down from the head coach’s position and make way for someone else to save the ship from sinking. That setback did not deter Thobejane, instead, he returns to the hot seat brimming with confidence.
“Whatever good and bad happens to me will never affect me. I will remain positive in whatever space,” he said.
“Every time in football I’m learning, even when my team was in the relegation zone, it did not mean we were only focusing on surviving, but we were learning. It was a situation we found ourselves in, not because the team were bad or not doing well or things were not going according to plan, but in football teams can find themselves in that situation.”
The Polokwane-based outfit recruited Kaizer Chiefs discard Lewis Macha who failed to impress Steve Komphela last season. The Zambian forward only completed his second training session with Bakgaga yesterday and Thobejane says he is yet to develop a perspective on his new frontman.
“I don’t have much to say about him because I still have to assess him a bit more before deciding how I am going to use him,” said Thobejane.
Thobejane gave a bit of insight into his recruitment policy as he is on the lookout for reinforcements.
“When we look for players, we don’t go for specific players … we go with what has impressed us.”