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profligacy is just immoral LEON LOUW One man’s ‘crisis’ is another’s correction MNINAWA NTLOKO Sundowns ball is in your court, Patrice

DEAR Patrice, I imagine you know what this is about, so I am just going to cut to the chase. Your club, Mamelodi Sundowns, is dangerously close to imploding and this ailing institution of South African football needs your attention urgently.

You have allowed GM Kenneth Makhanya and chief scout Trott Moloto to run the club on your behalf for far too long and I’ve got to tell you something you probably already know — they’ve been no great shakes. These two have not been great ambassadors of your brand, and this is why the media and the nation’s soccer lovers in general view Sundowns in a very negative light.

Hell, ask any member of the media to give you their honest view of this bungling Laurel and

FOOT BA L L

Hardy act and they will tell you that they are both about as useful as chocolate teapots.

They are aloof and do not seem to grasp that their poor attitude towards just about everybody muddies the brand that is Mamelodi Sundowns.

Pertinently, even the followers of your club are starting to believe that Sundowns’ poor image, both on and off the pitch, is directly linked to Moloto and Makhanya.

They said as much after the violent mob went on the rampage and vandalised Dobsonville Stadium following the 2-0 league defeat to Moroka Swallows on Sunday afternoon.

I’m told you are out of the country and I am going to give you a picture of what went down in Dobsonville in your absence. It was not pretty.

Your band of travelling supporters were seated in the western stand of this Soweto venue and we could sense their agitation with each passing minute. It was clear that they had travelled from Pretoria to Dobsonville with a lot of pent-up rage and the specific intention of running riot if things did not go their way.

And when your former player, Lerato Chabangu, scored the opening goal in the sixth minute, you could feel their anger hanging over Dobsonville Stadium like a dark cloud.

The fact that the selfsame Chabangu is arguably the best player in SA at the moment, and has recovered spectacularly after Sundowns unceremoniously kicked him to the curb two years ago, still does not sit very well with some of them.

He was one of your chief tormentors on Sunday and this tinge of poetic justice was not lost on your supporters. Felix Obada’s wonder goal from more than 20m later in the first half rubbed salt into the gaping wound and confirmed Swallows’ triumph. Then all hell broke loose after the final whistle.

Your supporters went on the rampage in what was one of the most disgraceful scenes I’ve seen in a long time. Sundowns coach Johan Neeskens was struck on the head with an object that came from the stands during the ensuing melee, and images of the Dutch legend with his hands on his head embarrassed this country to no end.

The supporters bayed for Neeskens’s blood and their chants blamed him for a poor start to the season, which has seen your limping Brazilians fail to win in the past seven games.

As you well know, their actions were a continuation of similar scenes at Lucas Moripe Stadium when they attacked Neeskens after a defeat to Maritzburg United last month.

You never said a word after that violence last month and your supporters have indicated on your website that they will continue with this action until they get your attention. Worryingly, you have still not said a word even after the latest acts of hooliganism.

The Sundowns supporters were pretty clear on Sunday that Neeskens is not the only one to blame and they also want Moloto and Makhanya out. What are you going to do about this mess?

Your leadership is needed here because Sundowns are bringing our football into disrepute. The African Nations Cup will be hosted in SA from January 19 to February 10, and you can imagine the kind of negative image this is bringing to the rest of the world.

The fans of other clubs are following your supporters’ lead and resorting to violence when they do not get their way. This is dangerous.

We all know that the unbelievably toothless Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee has worsened the situation by failing to punish any of the perpetrators of violence since August. But surely the time has come for you to put your foot down?

Your supporters genuinely believe violence achieves their objective, and decisions to fire a succession of coaches soon after acts of hooliganism at Sundowns matches didn’t help matters.

This is the time for you to take control of the situation because things cannot continue like this. The ball is in your court, Patrice. Yours sincerely, Mninawa Ntloko is sports editor