Draws need not be a disaster for our teams

It was not a good weekend for Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport United and Platinum Stars following their draws in the Caf Champions League and the Caf Confederation Cup respectively. It is a blow because they were playing at home.

Whenever you play at home, you are expected to win, because the conditions they encounter away will make it hard to get three points. But it is not all doom and gloom, because following recent trends, when teams play away, they have tended to collect maximum points more often. We have seen the likes of Sundowns and Orlando Pirates winning away.

I am hoping that trend will continue. As it stands now, it is much easier for SuperSport and Platinum Stars to prioritise the Confederation Cup because Stars’ chances of qualifying for the topeight are very minimal, and SuperSport are out of the championship race. It will be much easier for those two to focus.

But it will be a challenge for Sundowns because they want to retain two titles, one which is a matter of urgency, but at the same time they cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the other. But now, the desire to win the domestic league and continental titles should be a trend that all teams follow after Sundowns raised the bar.

Masandawana are now at the first stage in their defence of the Champions League. They are trying to strike a balance in terms of winning all their domestic competitions and also doing well on the continent.

I was happy to see Platinum Stars coach Cavin Johnson giving the youngsters a chance to play in high level and intensive competition. They need this kind of exposure because it will go a long way to developing these players for the country’s junior and senior national teams.

They will now be exposed to many different playing conditions in foreign countries, the not-sogood hotels and similar experiences, which will help build their character, and as a result, they should not struggle to adapt when they get to travel with the national teams.

Coming back to the domestic league, I think Chippa United shot themselves in the foot when they put Dan Malesela on “special leave” and recalled him again with only just a few games to go. The damage has already been done, the image and the integrity of the coach has now been compromised. If they manage to turn their situation around, I think that will be pure luck.

I hope the trend of giving coaches who have taken a team into the Absa Premiership a couple of games in the top flight, then dismissing them, will come to an end. We saw what happened with Roger Sikhakhane when he won promotion with Chippa. I just hope Thanda Royal Zulu took note of that from a distance and do not commit the same mistake, because continuity is key to any club’s success.

Congratulations to Roger for doing it again, he has proved he is a quality coach. The promotion of Thanda is also good for the province of KwaZulu-Natal – to have more teams in the top flight. It is encouraging and it means more opportunities for the youngsters in the province.

I am expecting the team to continue with Sikhakhane in order to remain stable. But they need to start working harder because it will not be easy. They are aware that the standard in the Premiership is very high – they have been there before.