Pieterse, Chiefs negotiations in safe hands
KAIZER Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung said this week the club will have a relaxed approach during what could be protracted contract negotiations for goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse, whose current deal with Amakhosi expires at the end of the season.
The 23-year-old former Shamrock Rovers goalie was again picked ahead of Brilliant Khuzwayo and Itumeleng Khune against Bloemfontein Celtic at the weekend and collected a second successive clean sheet in his side’s 1-0 victory at the Free State Stadium. He drew praise from coach Steve Komphela, who admitted that his selection poser was indeed as tough as it looks.
Motaung’s most recent attempts to renegotiate deals for the club’s top players escalated to high levels of drama in June last year when then captain Tefu Mashamaite, Khune and Mandla Masango were intent on exorbitant salaries in their new contracts. Khune is said to have taken a pay cut when he eventually agreed to commit his future to the club, while Mashamaite and Masango moved abroad to Sweden and Denmark respectively.
“We will begin talking this week because the player indicated earlier in the season that he wants to talk at this particular period,” Motaung said about Pieterse. “The club policy is that we don’t put a gun on the player’s head. We are prepared to give him a hearing when he feels he is in the right frame of mind. It’s a two-way street because we are interested in giving him an extension and it is up to him and his agent (Pieterse is represented by Forte Management) to finalise the deal.”
Pieterse, who was signed by Chiefs three years ago as Khune’s understudy, was reportedly keen to continue his playing career elsewhere because he was concerned over his lack of game time under former coach Stuart Baxter. He only made five Absa Premiership appearances last season, with Khune and Khuzwayo the most used by Baxter during a championship-winning campaign. In the 2015-16 season so far, Pieterse has started in eight of Amakhosi’s 22 matches in all competitions.
Due to an injury setback to Khune, coach Komphela has found it hard to pick between Pieterse and Khuzwayo. He has favoured Pieterse since the 3-1 Telkom Knockout final defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in December. Motaung said the goalie’s current form suggested he would be in good spirits when they huddle around the negotiation table.
“He is still being paid by Chiefs and has a career ahead of him. If we have contributed to his career then we have done our job as a club, we can’t hold him back just because he doesn’t want to negotiate. When it is time, it is time. He knows the club and the environment, so the ball is in his court,” Motaung reasoned.
Asked why Pieterse has been the first choice in goal lately, Komphela said he relied on what the trio did in training. “You have to justify your selection by saying he performed well and trained well, unless there is an injury. That is the case with Khune, which means we are forced to only consider the two goalkeepers,” the coach explained.
Goalkeeper coach Brian Baloyi also plays his part.
“We depend heavily on our goalkeeper coach as well to try and speak to them and make them understand that there are 30 league matches plus cup games, so we need to manage our game. It is very important to deal with this. It is a nice difficulty to have three quality goalkeepers, but you have to manage them,” Komphela said.