Arrows lay their plans for the PSL
LAMONTVILLE Golden Arrows, who will return to the PSL, have yet to confirm their coach and squad, but chairwoman Mato Madlala is confident they won’t be making up the numbers next season.
Arrows bounced back to the top flight after one season when they won the First Division title under Shaun Bartlett’s guidance with a game to spare. Although the future of the coach and players is uncertain, Madlala said Arrows would be competitive.
“We have plans of going forward. They are twopronged, based on the budget and the personnel that we have in terms of players and coaches. We don’t want to go into any season just to preserve the status quo.
“I feel we have the players to do more than just preserve the status quo, but the objective will be discussed with the coach and the technical team,” said Madlala.
According to media speculation, Bartlett is linked with the assistant coach vacancy at Mpumalanga Black Aces under Muhsin Ertugral, the Turkish-German coach who recruited the former Bafana international to be his deputy at Arrows a few seasons ago.
Arrows are also set to lose several loan players, among them striker Andile Fikizolo, who returns to parent club SuperSport United.
“I have seen all the media speculation, and have no comment. The club will make an announcement on the coach, the players and the plans for the season when we have finalised everything.
“The media loves to speculate. If I am seen talking with a coach, the next thing is that Arrows are interested in that coach,” said Madlala.
While cautiously optimistic, Madlala said among the biggest challenges were the lack of sponsorship and the long-distance travelling compared with inland sides.
“Sponsors look more favourably on Cape Town and Joburg, saying that their head offices are there. And then when the club sells their best players people think it’s because the club wants to make money. Most times we have to sell to balance the books.
“People talk about the R1.5 million (grant), but most of it goes to travelling. The travel budget for inland clubs is about R500 000 or R400 000. As coastal clubs it can be R1 million or more. We’re saying to sponsors that football clubs don’t look after only their professional side.
“Players come from the lower structures of development. We have to look at development and do what is right for the country,” said Madlala.
Asked what lessons Arrows had learnt from their relegation experience and what they would do differently, Madlala pointed to the Sharks rugby team as an example of how the best-laid plans could flop.
Relegation “was not about doing something incorrectly; it was just about results”.
“Look at the Sharks. You’re dealing with science and human beings.
“There’s a combination of many things, not just planning. You can plan, but the difficult thing is when the players cross that line. There’s nothing we didn’t do correctly.
“AmaZulu is a recent example. If they performed in the first round as they did at the end, they would have challenged for the league,” said Madlala.