Hotto stuff as Deon earns August award
BACK TO HIS BEST: WITS WINGER HAVING FINE SEASON
Deon Hotto has deservedly been voted the first Phakaaathi Player-of-the-Month for August. The 27-yearold Namibian winger has been a marvel at Bidvest Wits and a key player in their fantastic start to the season under Gavin Hunt.
Those who know Hotto from his days at Golden Arrows will agree that he is back to his best again after having an indifferent time at Bloemfontein Celtic. At Celtic he was reunited with his former coach at Abafana
Bes’thende, Clinton Larsen. But after Larsen left, Hotto struggled to make a meaningful contribution at Phunya Sele Sele. His career progress there was also stalled by injuries.
Hotto’s move to the Students came as a surprise, as he had not been in top form at Celtic but it seems Hunt knew what he could do and the winger has not disappointed thus far. He has contributed two goals and three assists to the Wits campaign, as the Students look to re-establish themselves as Absa Premiership title contenders.
In August, Hotto scored on his Wits debut to set the seal on a 3-0 win over Free State Stars and he then netted an excellent opener in Wits’ 3-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs, while also setting up a goal for Gift Motupa.
At the end of the month, against AmaZulu a superb run ended in a slide rule pass, finished off by Mxolisi Macuphu.
“He’s done okay, there is a lot of work to be done, but he is prepared to work,” Hunt told Phakaaathi when asked about Hotto yesterday.
“We lost (Daine) Klate and (Vincent) Pule, so we needed a replacement. He needs a bit of coaching here and there, but he has all the attributes you want.”
Hotto carried his form over to the Namibian national team, who were unfortunate not to secure a win at home against Zambia’s
Chipolopolo this weekend, with a late own goal spoiling things for the Brave Warriors.
The Wits winger was a thorn in the Zambians’ side with his telling crosses causing all sorts of trouble for Kennedy Mweene in their goal.
Hotto was contending with other on-form players for the August gong and the readers felt he was the more deserving, though it was a close-run matter, with only a few votes separating all the contenders. He was competing against Cape Town City’s Thabo Nodada, Celtic’s Bongani Sam and SuperSport United’s Evans Rusike. Well done to him and we hope he keeps up the performances.