Something is just not right!
On PSL standings
It has been five rounds of DStv Premiership action and it is interesting to see how some teams have fared so far. We are not trying to justify or lambaste anyone. It is just a matter of looking at the performances so far this season. I am going to single out a few teams that have attracted my attention. It is a norm that there will be teams we don’t expect to see in the Top Eight bracket at this stage of the season, but they will always be there. I just want to commend them on their performances and being able to reach where they have reached so far on the log standings.
If we were to start with Mamelodi Sundowns, are we exhausting our emotions, hopes and everything it takes to say they are unbeatable? Funny enough, when Sundowns play the so-called smaller teams, they seem to struggle more than they do against so-called big teams. On a serious note, we should give credit to Sundowns because they are living up to expectations and standards. This is how it is done if you want to be among the teams challenging for the championship. They usually say if you start on the high, you’re going to drop at some stage in the season. If you start on the low, you’re going to peak in the middle or last third of the season. All of this has not been the case in the past two seasons or so for Sundowns. They’ve not been far from the top spot even when, at one stage, there was close to a 15-point gap between them and Kaizer Chiefs, and they went on to close the gap. They’ve not been anywhere outside the Top Five bracket in a long time and that speaks volumes about their team because they’ve been so consistent. We need to give them credit for that, to say they actually live up to standard. Coach Manqoba Mngqithi,
Rhulani Mokwena, Steve Komphela and the entire technical team, job well done so far, guys.
You’ve maintained the winning culture and philosophy of the club, which is never an easy thing to do. You only lost one game last season and conceded fewer goals than anyone else (14). Now, with five rounds of fixtures played, you’re yet to concede and remain the only team who is yet to concede. It is also great to see Royal AM doing so well, winning three games in a row and scoring nine goals in the process. Coach John Maduka and his technical team have been unbelievable and deserve all the credit for restoring confidence after such a shaky start. This team has been through a lot in a short space of time and for them to have found the balance, merging two teams, is commendable. If they can keep up their performances and the way they’ve been doing things, they might do exactly what Golden Arrows and AmaZulu FC did last season – finishing among the top teams and surprising a lot of people. This is the beauty of our league because no one is out to donate points to anyone, you fight for each and every point. You’re made to sweat for your points and that’s wonderful. It is so unfortunate that some teams aren’t smiling because results aren’t going their way, while others have been ticking all the boxes so far. We’ve seen some teams parting ways with their coaches because of poor results, which is always sad to see. TS Galaxy have parted ways with coach Owen da Gama, while Gallants FC’s assistant coach, Jean Loscuito, suddenly resigned. With five games into the season, are club bosses impatient or is there more to the stories of parting of ways so soon? It is not my place to judge because those who are involved know better.
On red cards
I’m not too sure what’s going on, but something is just not right! There’s too much anger in our game. Just this past weekend, we saw a number of red cards being shown and I wonder what’s going on? Tackles are flying in anger and
it looks like there’s just too much anger. Yes, I understand that when you’re on the field, you want to leave everything on the field, but that doesn’t justify career-threatening tackles. There’s too much aggression with an intent to cause harm. Look, I’m not saying this because it happened against Kaizer Chiefs, but I watched a Gallants FC player tackle Khama Billiat. As he was on the ground, a fellow professional kicks the ball to his face. Why? There was a career-ending tackle in the AM v Galaxy clash and I wonder what happened to FIFA Fair Play? To prove that there’s a lot of anger and hatred, the perpetrators don’t even show remorse for their actions.
We have young kids watching their heroes on television and the last thing they need to be exposed to is violent conduct. Obviously when these things happen, the team whose player has been fouled is going to react and then there will be scuffles on the touchline with our kids watching. Kids will think it is normal and acceptable to do these things. Teams and players are brand ambassadors of the PSL and South African football at large. They represent us in the continent and beyond because there are countries that admire our league. When we display negative things on the field, it is not a good advertisement for our game and it is ugly. I mean, two sending-offs in one game which are so uncalled for? This is not who and what we are all about. We should be watching players expressing their God-given talent and not this bad behaviour. Yes, it is a man’s game, but there is a difference between a late tackle and a deliberate attempt to harm the next person. A player gets sent off and it affects the coach’s tactics and the very same coach will be held accountable for the results while the player will only serve a suspension.
They say the players’ behaviour is a true reflection of their head coach, but I don’t want to believe there’s a coach who would send out a message for an opposition player’s leg to be broken. We don’t want to see kung-fu or boxing in the football field. We want to see good and entertaining football, not wrestling. This is really bad and should be condemned. The Board of Governors at the PSL have done a tremendous job in putting our league among the best in the world and we can’t risk this brand being put into disrepute. I just hope the chairmen of the teams will deal with the culprits accordingly. We need to change our attitude and do better. There are thousands of youngsters out there who would give anything to get a chance to play professional football like you, but you don’t seem to realise how blessed and fortunate you are. When you should be competing for individual awards at the end of the season, you’re busy kicking opposition players. We can’t have the same players or players from the same team challenging for these honours. It is time for our players to reflect. We have a new Bafana Bafana coach, how are you going to get there if anger rules your game?