Chippa sign Pirates star
But Chippa lose skipper and defender in deal
IN A decision that is likely to upset most Orlando Pirates fans‚ the club has elected to offload midfielder Thabo Rakhale to Chippa United – on a permanent deal. As part of the surprise deal for the stylish player, announced by the Buccaneers yesterday‚ Chippa defenders Diamond Thopola and Phetso Maphanga will move to Pirates, with immediate effect. Maphanga is a defender who is in the mould of Pirates skipper Thabo Matlaba while Thopola‚ who was captain of Port Elizabeth’s Chilli Boys‚ is known for his nononsense style of play and reading of the game. Announcing the deals, Pirates said: “The club would like to thank Thabo Rakhale for his contribution at Bucs and wish him all of the best in his future endeavours.” There are also unconfirmed reports that Pirates may recall attacking midfielder Gift Motupa from his loan deal at Baroka FC, as coach Milutin “Mihco” Sredojevic prepares his squad for the second round of the PSL campaign. Motupa has scored five goals for Kgoloko Thobejane’s side this season, but injury forced him out of the last few matches of the year. Pirates end the year in seventh position on the PSL log, with 20 points from 15 matches – after winning four‚ drawing eight‚ losing three – and scoring only 11 goals in their struggle to find consistency.
Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela said the Christmas and New Year break was no real holiday – it must be seen rather like one of the international breaks that clubs regularly have during the season. Chiefs players have continued training this week and will only go on the break today. They have the Christmas weekend off, but are back on December 27 for three more days of training. Chiefs players are then off for New Year and back again to prepare for their first game of the new year against SuperSport United, on January 6.
Chiefs have the least time off of the 16 PSL teams but the routine is not much different from other clubs‚ who have given their players this week off but will be back the day after Boxing Day.
Only Cape Town City and Platinum Stars are on holiday longer.
Benni McCarthy and Roger de Sa have given their teams off until December 29.
“It is an awkward period. It’s not even a minor recess‚ it’s just a short break‚” Komphela said.
“You can’t let your players go off for too long, because if you let them go for both Christmas and New Year‚ you won’t be ready for the game on January 6.
“We won’t really rest – we’ll just have a few days in between for Christmas and for New Year.
“There is no time really. We are professionals‚ like entertainers‚ we don’t have a chance to rest over this period‚” he said.
The team that are likely to need the most rest are SuperSport United‚ whose coach, Eric Tinkler, has admitted are suffering from a fatigue-induced hangover after their Caf Confederation Cup campaign.
Since failing to triumph in the second leg of the final against TP Mazembe Englebert, of the Democratic Republic of Congo‚ SuperSport have won only once in six of their outings.