CHIEFS’ PROBLEMS
It is heartbreaking to see the most-supported club in the Southern hemisphere being embarrassed like that by DStv Premiership champions, Mamelodi Sundowns. If my memory serves me well, Chiefs needed the win more than Sundowns to cement their place in the Top Eight. But unfortunately, my team were clueless as usual in their own backyard. The referee, Thando Ndzandzeka, was controversial as usual, he failed to penalise a Sundowns midfielder for a career-threatening tackle on Castillo, yet he was so quick to dish out a red card to Msimango for a harmless tackle. But congratulations to Ka Bo Yellow for winning their seventh consecutive League title in style. Secondly, let me take this opportunity to congratulate both Pirates and Sundowns on their hard-won fight in the semis of the Nedbank Cup. As for Chiefs, 60 percent of their current players must get the chop if we want to see different results next season. Boitumelo Vanrooyen, Schweizer-Reneke
Abongile Tom’s handling of the game between Chiefs and Sundowns aside, Johnson fumbled yet again. He had no reason to reinstate both Maart and Castillo into the starting lineup. The two haven’t been playing lately and you wonder what informed his decision to use them. It’s no wonder Chiefs players don’t look motivated, because even if you perform you might find yourself out for the next game. The strange thing is that he has tried every player in midfield except for Zwane and Duba, but they are nowhere near the matchday squad. I also don’t know what Njabulo Ngcobo did to him that stops him from playing the former Defender of the Season. Johnson keeps promising the fans the Chiefs way of playing, but to this day we haven’t seen anything yet. I know I always say players must come to the party but when the captain of the ship is in sixes and sevens, the whole crew will despair. The sooner the season ends, the better because it can’t get worse than this. This just shows that coaching qualifications are overrated. Allow me to congratulate Bucs and KBY for reaching the Nedbank Cup final and I wish them well. Malesela “Dance” Boya, Kanana, Hammanskraal
I wish to respond to the rumours that suggest that Edson Castillo has dropped form. My take is that Castillo has merely integrated into the Chiefs culture of poor work ethic and zero desire to win. When Castillo first showed up everyone was impressed with his work rate. He has now seen that that is not necessary. You stick out like the pupil that reminds the teacher about homework if you dare to work hard at Chiefs. The culture at Chiefs is made up of laziness, no dedication, no commitment, and no desire to win. Castillo has just been successfully inducted.
Ray, Durban
It is with a sore heart that I have write this letter about the situation at Kaizer Chiefs. I think what we are seeing now is the result of what started some time ago when Dr Kaizer Motaung started to employ his family into the structures of the team and shifted aside those who had the best interest of the team. Ever since then, recruitment of players was never the same. Instead of going for quality players they went for cheap and out-of-contract players. They never wanted to spend big on quality but decided to take out-of-contract players, some of whom have already lost their value. Until Dr Kaizer stands up and takes full responsibility of this empire he built, I’m afraid things are still going to worsen in this team and sometimes they are going to find themselves fighting relegation. Leponesa Chacha, Botshabelo
Kaizer Chiefs is a disgrace as a football club, and I don’t see the rot stopping anytime soon. They have really hit a new low, losing 5-1 to Sundowns on Thursday. This is the worst Chiefs team ever and no one can convince me otherwise. We, as fans, must just come together and boycott the club’s games, stop buying their merchandise and maybe the management will take us seriously if we do that. There will be those, as usual, who will buy the merchandise, but I feel like we need to hit the club where it hurts the most, in the pocket. Perhaps switching allegiance is not a bad idea. Thokane Marvin Matseke, Burgersfort, Leboeng Rutseng
The turning point of Chiefs’ heavy loss to Sundowns was two defining moments. It was not the red card. By the time Msimango got his marching orders, I had already lost interest in the game because of the malicious and reckless tackle Neo made on Castillo. How is a above the ankle lunge, not a red card? Secondly, Lorch fouled Ditlhokwe to make way for Ribeiro and Tom again looked away and that created the red card. These obvious “incidents” make me wonder how is professionalising refereeing going to be of any help if referees don’t know the rules that are known by an ordinary person like me? TS Galaxy were denied a legitimate goal, and an immediate replay was played on slow motion, what came to mind was that if we could get a conclusive immediate reply, is it not something that can be communicated to the referee to award a goal? Is there something that can be done to be as effective as VAR since most can’t afford it? The assistant referees do nothing during the game and when they decide to do something, they make wrong calls. What happened to giving the attacking team an advantage/benefit of the doubt when they are not sure in an offside call? Countries with VAR also still don’t apply the laws of the game. I can’t stand the grabbing, pushing and goalkeepers being impeded. These are some of the things that’s been normalised in the EPL. A foul happening anywhere on the field is still a foul and, in the box, it must be given as a penalty. Lucky Khunou, Rustenburg, Meriting
ON TO THE DREAM FINAL!
Congrats to Bucs for their win against Chippa United. Credit must go to Chippa, although they lost the game. Big up to football followers of Nelson Mandela Bay, the stadium was full. When the game started, I saw one of the assistant referees lying down with cramps. I’m still saying fitness tests must be done on all officials in the DStv Premiership before the game starts. I can’t wait to watch the Nedbank Cup final. Who is going to win the trophy between these two teams? Both are very strong, but Amathambo are strong especially with young players. Come next season, teams like Orlando Pirates, Stellenbosch, Sekhukhune, Cape Town City, Chippa United and AmaZulu are going to challenge Ka Bo Yellow, competition is going to be interesting. Arsenal and Man City are playing awesome football, I wish my favourite team can learn from international teams. Isaac Tsenene, via email
Bucs vs Chilli Boys was one of the best matches to watch. School boy errors by Chabalala and Eva Nga went a long way to determine the winner. You play to the whistle, Eva Nga preached this to Justice when they were going to the interval only for him to do the same, ball watching and raising his hand. Nelson Mandela Bay stadium was packed to the rafters. Downs and Stellies was a dogeat-dog type of a match only for the officials to spoil the party. Lunga should have walked, and Rayner’s denied goal was legit and should have stood. Stellies were hard done by the officials, and it was a clear day light robbery. Officials were just on a mission to deliver results that suit Downs. The stadium is also not safe for matches of this magnitude and one day we will lose lives if nothing is done about it, God forbids. Date is set for the final, and oh Boy, we are anticipating a final that will keep us on the edges of the sears and leave us talking about it for ages. Both teams are dishing out football that we as South African fanatics have been longing for. May the beautiful game be won on the field of play. Siyabonga Nkalambela, Delft
It is very true that Downs, Bucs and Stellies are currently the best three teams in the PSL. When checking the PSL log, Diski Challenge and Nedbank Cup they are among the top three. Also, their players Ribeiro (Downs), Mabasa (Bucs) and Rayners (Stellies) are fighting for golden boot. I blame Bucs for their inconsistency, they are a team supposed to challenge Downs for the league. They always start badly but finish the season like a house on fire. The Nedbank Cup game between Downs and Stellies had lots of drama starting with an injured assistant referee, referee failing to book Lunga, which was going to be his second yellow card and Rayners disallowed goal. The red card was going to change complexion of the game and 10 men Downs was going to struggle to contain attacking Stellies. Lastly, congrats to Magesi for automatic promotion with two games to spare. Amos “Tiger” Tshukudu, Ga-Maria
Quick One Two’s
I watched the game between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns with keen interest. Everybody expected the latter to make lots of changes considering they were about to play Stellies in three days. I must confess that I was impressed by Terrence Mashego. He has a football brain, and not forgetting young Matthews, who is knocking loudly on Hugo Broos’ door. The boy is one for the future, he just needs to not associate himself with wrong people. Kaizer Chiefs were made to eat
humble pie especially the self-proclaimed supporter Papa Wawa. I was taken aback to hear my colleague Ernest Molefe saying we were helped by the Referee and I wonder which game was he watching. On a different note, I would like to congratulate both Girona and Bologna for qualifying for UEFA Champions League for the first ever time in their respective histories. I hope they’re not going there just to add numbers. Congrats to Magesi for gaining automatic promotion to the elite league.
Tente “The Brains” Mokoka, Sepharane
As a resident of Limpopo, I am so happy and proud about what my local team did, showing that they wanted promotion the most. Clinton Larsen and the boys, we are all behind you, and not forgetting the management who did not interfere with the coach. Well done, boys.