Baroka want to ‘win everything’ they play for

THOHOYANDOU: Kgoloko Thobejane was at it again. This time though it wasn’t with the same bravado that endeared him to the local soccer public at the beginning of last season. But he said it alright! “We want to win everything we play for. That’s why we play,” Thobejane said.

Having just led his club to PSL safety via the playoff route, the Baroka FC coach was back to his eloquent self.

His voice hoarse from an afternoon of shouting instructions and later singing in celebration, Thobejane spoke in a whisper as he anticipated yet another season in the elite league.

A 1-1 draw with Black Leopards was enough to see his side win the three-team (Stellenbosch FC was the other side) promotional playoffs by eight points after they finished second last in their maiden PSL season.

“This one was not our season. We just couldn’t score,” he said.

Logic would dictate then that, ahead of the next campaign, Thobejane would impress on his bosses to allow him to sharpen his strikeforce with new additions of renowned finishers.

Incredibly, he said there’s no need to change anything.

“We will stay as Baroka. We will play the kind of football we’ve always played,” Thobejane, pictured, said.

And what about adding new players, coach?

“I am just a coach. It is up to the management to decide if we want new players. As for me, I believe in getting 11 players on to the field. It does not matter which they are, as long as I can have 11 players I will get them to play,” Thobejane said.

It was perhaps his naivety, or is it simplicity, that saw him come up short in the previous edition of the PSL – Thobejane actually being put out to pasture by club boss Khurishi Mphahelele midway through the season as the club struggled to cope.

He had approached the PSL almost as a Sunday morning kick-about, often seeming to send his players on to the field with what appeared to be a simple instruction to “go at them, boys”.

Without a clear plan as to what they must do once they had their opposition pinned down, their attacking football failed to yield goals.

It proved costly against organised teams and many a matches that could have seen Baroka bag three points ended in defeat.

They awoke somewhat late in the season to avoid automatic relegation and then went on to keep their PSL status with success in the playoffs – a Mduduzi Mdatsane goal on Saturday enough to see them keep Leopards – for whom captain Siphelele Ntshangase equalised from the penalty spot – at bay.

Whether they have picked up any lessons that will stand them in good stead for their second campaign remains to be seen.