Kobola decries Baroka’s lack of familiarity with NFD
Ex-PSL club’s coach refuses to throw in towel in promotion race
Baroka coach Vincent Kobola has admitted that he’s under pressure from the club’s management to win the Motsepe Foundation Championship. But the results are not coming his way.
The transition to life in the NFD has been hard for Baroka as they are 13th on the log with 11 points. This past weekend they lost 2-4 to NB La Masia.
Kobola has pinned the bad results on the players’ lack of experience in the NFD.
“Life in the NFD is tough, it’s not like the Premiership. The players are taking time to adjust to it, they don’t have the experience of playing in it, so it takes time.
“But we don’t have that time,” said Kobola.
Baroka chair Khurišhi Mphahlele wants to see the club back in the Premiership and that’s pressure for Kobola, who is trying to build a team capable of competing.
“As much we are trying to build, the chairman wants the league now, so we have to do everything. It’s not easy, but we are pushing and trying to work hard,” he said.
“The players need to take it seriously also, we can’t have a situation where the chairman wants the championship now and the players are looking in the other direction.
“With the players that we got, you can’t say you’re building with the likes of Phumlani Ntshangase, they need to go out there and deliver,” he said.
Even though Baroka are 14 points behind top of the table Polokwane City, Kobola is refusing to throw in the towel in the promotion race.
“We won’t give up now, we’ll keep on pushing. The race is not over, we just have to make sure that when January comes we are motivated and win our games,” Kobola said.