It’s time for Ajax to put smiles on faces – Lartey

LAWRENCE LARTEY has spent just two months at Ajax Cape Town, but already he’s had the full experience of the erratic form so characteristic of his new club. So much so, in fact, that, when interviewed yesterday, the 21year-old Ghanaian central defender said, “it was time for Ajax to put smiles on the faces” of everybody involved with the Cape club.

Ajax take on Platinum Stars in a PSL fixture at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday afternoon (kickoff 3.30pm) – and Lartey, pictured, wants the team to get back to winning ways.

Having long been on the radar of the Cape club – on the recommendation of former coach Muhsin Ertugral, during his last spell in the Mother City – Lartey only signed late last year and made his debut in January.

He has been impressive in central defence, forging a solid partnership with teenager Rivaldo Coetzee. But the duo’s good work at the back has often been undone by Ajax’s inability to convert numerous scoring opportunities. As such, pressure builds in defence and the Capetonians are eventually made to pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.

In their last 10 games, Ajax have recorded four wins, two draws and four losses – an apt illustration of the wretched inconsistency Lartey has had to put up with at his new team.

“It has been difficult and frustrating,” said Lartey. “We are just not able to maintain our winning ways… and it’s not good. It’s challenging, that’s for sure. But, I guess, that’s football and we just have to make sure that we bounce back, we have to develop a winning mentality.

“It has been sad for a while, but we have to smile a bit. We have to put smiles on the faces of the fans, the coaches and the club.”

The Ghanaian has settled in nicely and is looking forward to a successful spell in the Mother City.

“It has been nice, everything has been good,” he said. “The people here are lovely and that has made settling in all that more easy. Obviously things are different where I come from… but the fact that they speak English in the Cape has made it easy to communicate, and that obviously makes it better to adapt.”

And, as far as the football in the PSL is concerned, Lartey has had to quickly get accustomed to things.

“I’ve now had some time playing in the PSL and it’s different to Ghana,” he said. “For me, one of the big adaptations has been playing at night… in Ghana, the games are only in the afternoon, while here it can be in the afternoon or the evening.

“Another difference is fields… in Ghana, the pitches are small and most of them aren’t in a good condition. In the PSL, the fields are bigger and the state of surfaces is much better.”

But, despite all this, Lartey has adjusted well. The Ghanaian has quickly made himself indispensable to the team and, while coach Roger de Sa is not very happy with his squad at the moment, he is on record as saying that Lartey has done well since his introduction to the team.

And, no doubt, De Sa will again be looking for a huge contribution from the Ghanaian against Platinum Stars on Sunday. – Rodney Reiners