STAR CAPE TOWN CITY PLAYER ‘NOT FOR SALE’
AMBITIOUS upstarts Cape Town City have responded to Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane’s interest in star player Lebogang Manyama by threatening to make audacious bids for Downs’ own star Percy Tau and Kaizer Chiefs’ Siphiwe Tshabalala.
City have been a revelation this season and several of their star players have drawn admiring glances from their wellheeled rivals.
But City coach Eric Tinkler is having none of it and said they were planning to bid for the likes of Tshabalala and Tau if they became available.
Mosimane said in March that he was eyeing Manyama, and his interest in the City captain seemingly rubbed Tinkler up the wrong way.
A peeved Tinkler said Mosimane had to follow protocols if he was eyeing his players.
“If other people want our players‚ we’re prepared to match them and that’s what my owners say‚” Tinkler said.
“Pitso talks too much. He needs to go through the proper channels instead of through the media and through the players.
“There have to be plans to beef up the squad for next season because we’re not here just to make up the numbers.
“We’ve proved that this year and we’ve got a very ambitious club owner in John Comitis, who doesn’t want to lose his players.
“Aubrey Ngoma is not for sale‚ Lebogang Manyama is not for sale.
“Ajax was all about development and moving players on.
“We’re not about that business. We want to win trophies.”
Tuesday night’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of SuperSport United killed off whatever chances Cape Town City had of winning the league.
They came into the game in third place on 52 points and badly needed a win to reel in log-leaders Bidvest Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns.
While both sides have tricky assignments away to Free State Stars and Baroka FC respectively‚ Tinkler has resigned himself to the realisation that their league campaign is dead in the water.
The City coach also said the absence of Ngoma through suspension was massive, even though they had chances to win the game.
“The win was key because we were already five points behind Wits – that’s why we [went up] not looking for a draw. “We had to win this game. “[We] took the lead but they came back.
“They punished us at setpieces and against a team like that‚ they were going to punish us at set-pieces.
“Mathematically, it’s tough for us now‚” Tinkler said.
“Aubrey was a massive loss because of his suspension but we [had] a positive attitude, playing with three strikers.
“That also affected our play [as] we didn’t have the type of combinations we usually have with Lebo and Aubrey.
“We had the lead, but we knew how good SuperSport could be.” – TMG Digital/TMG Sport