Is United’s Igesund on borrowed time?

Sitting ninth in the PSL and with no titles since 2010, can the coach turnaroundound SuperSport while the axe looms large

DECEMBER would have been a defining month for Gordon Igesund, but the PSL has spared the fourtime championship winner his blushes by taking this lengthy recess.

We would have known for sure whether SuperSport United are potential title contenders or not during this festive season, with clubs reaching the halfway mark of this rollercoaster ride called the Absa Premiership.

However, Matsatsantsa will take on neighbours AmaTuks in their only game this month before another break – the rest of the campaign only scheduled for a return in early January. This leaves us with no clear picture as far as SuperSport are concerned.

Are they championship material or is this season pretty much a write-off ?

The PSL is on a threeweek hiatus following a decision to back the South African Under-23 side by allowing coach Owen da Gama the chance to select the best players in that age group for the CAF Youth Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal.

It’s safe to say Igesund has not lived up to expectation given the fact that SuperSport currently occupy ninth place on the log. There was plenty of hype at the start of the 2015/16 campaign which began with the coach being showered with expensive gifts – Bongani Khumalo, Grant Kekana, Mi- chal Boxall, Dean Furman and Phumelele Bhengu, to name a few.

These were signings that had his counterparts green with envy as the former Bafana Bafana mentor was able to get his first transfer choices in his attempts to build a team that could potentially sweep all before them.

Fast-forward to 11 games later and the Tshwane outfit resembles anything but likely champions. Instead, Igesund has become increasingly vague in his response to questions about the title race. “We are a team that can compete,” is top of his quotable quote. Igesund has been able to avoid the chop despite an obvious mandate from chairman Khulu Sibiya to win the league or else.

Stan Matthews, the club’s director of football, has had to put out fires after Sibiya’s remarks, which immediately placed Igesund under a tremendous amount of pressure. But who would blame the big boss with such quality players at the coach’s disposal? It was Matthews who argued that December would be an ideal time to assess Igesund, who is now in his second season with Matsatsantsa having taken over from Cavin Johnson in September last year.

The current league position has seen Igesund lower the bar as he see-sawed from claiming SuperSport will be “right up there and compete” to “taking it one game at time”. His only saving grace is, perhaps, his rich CV. The fact that he has won four titles with as many teams in his years as a topflight coach allows him a grace period. Fair enough, that kind of pedigree should buy anyone time, but the continuing drought at SuperSport, who haven’t won a league title since 2010, only highlights the lack of success at the club.

Too much money has been splashed, and Sibiya expects a worthwhile return. Igesund had been hoping his men would maintain a decent run in the Telkom Knockout, a competition he won just over a year ago shortly after his arrival. But the 3-1 hammering by Tshwane rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in the semi-finals last month proved just how far off the pace SuperSport are this season.

A dark cloud hovers, and January – a month in which Matsatsantsa have four league matches scheduled – could prove a decisive one for the club as well as the coach.