Now for the play-offs

CALL FOR CHANGE: PROMOTION-RELEGATION FORMAT HAS TO BE LOOKED AT

Cosmos finished second so they should be promoted.

And so the end of another Premier Soccer League season is nearly upon us, with the Nedbank Cup final between Ajax Cape Town and Mamelodi Sundowns providing an almost finale in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. “Why’s it an ‘almost finale’?” I hear you ask. Well, because it’s followed by the promotion-relegation playoff which start on Sunday with Moroka Swallows, Black Leopards and Jomo Cosmos fighting it out for the final place in the Absa Premiership next season.

To my mind, it would be better if the Nedbank Cup final rounded off the season altogether – I would prefer a simple two-up, two-down strategy when it comes to relegation from the Absa Premiership and promotion from the National First Division.

After all, for all Moroka Swallows’ proud history, do they really deserve another shot at survival after some of the dross they have served up this season? And should Jomo Cosmos, second in the NFD, having pushed Arrows all the way for the title this season, really now have to rally themselves for another push for glory?

Dube Birds fans would no doubt argue otherwise, as would Black Leopards supporters, who might have a more justifiable argument that their run in 2015, from 12th to third under Zeca Marques, has earned them a shot at the big time. But to my mind they should change the rules – the sooner the better.

Not that the play-offs will take any gloss off what should be an amazing Nedbank Cup final this weekend. Sundowns will have all the pressure on their shoulders in Port Elizabeth, with the Brazilians desperate to avoid a trophyless season. Ajax’s youngsters, by contrast, can play with a certain freedom, knowing just to have got this far is an achievement.

In Phakaaathi this week, we take an extended look at the 2015 Nedbank Cup, charting the course both sides have taken to reach the fi nal.

We also speak to Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane about the final, and also about his ambitions for next season.

We chat to Matthew Booth, who played for both Sundowns and Ajax in his time, about who he fancies for the final and about why Ajax’s academy produces so much young talent. We interview Ajax forward Robin Ngalande Jr, who gave up a completely different vocation to become a professional footballer.

And opposite, Premier Soccer League chief operations officer Ronnie Schloss gives his response to the death of a fan at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday. It does seem, as Schloss describes it, like a unique, horrific incident totally unrelated to the game of football on the day between Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs.

Elsewhere in this week’s Phakaaathi, we present you with five young players who have impressed us this season, including one who has scored for Ajax in three straight rounds of the Nedbank Cup, Tashreeq Morris. And we speak to Simba Marumo, the president of the South African Football Players Union, about steps the union are taking to help current and former footballers.

There is also the very latest from Shakes Mashaba’s Bafana Bafana squad, who went into camp yesterday ahead of the 2015 Cosafa Cup. And we bring you the latest on the future of Golden Arrows coach Shaun Bartlett, who somehow is still to get a new deal at the side he has just promoted.

All that is left is for me to give a prediction for the Nedbank Cup final, so here goes: Ajax Cape Town 2 Sundowns 1.