‘Bring back the fizz at Baroka…’
AFTER two matches with new coach Roger de Sa, followed by a 10-day break, Maritzburg United will expect to be in a better position to reclaim an Absa Premiership top eight spot when they visit SuperSport United tonight.
The squad are buoyant after striker Andrea Fileccia recovered from injury, and there’s greater depth with midfielder Kurt Lentjies and defender Bevan Fransman back from suspension.
The break would have been equally useful, because it offered De Sa time to digest the draw (at Polokwane City) and a loss (against Kaizer Chiefs) in his first two matches in charge.
The performances in those outings left De Sa feeling that certain players could add more value, and as a team there was room for improvement in “match management”.
“It’s good to have Kurt back, and Fileccia as well. At least it gives us a few more options. (Defender) Themba (Shabalala) is also back in the team, which is good,” said the coach as he looked ahead to the challenge against SuperSport.
Only Kenyan defender Brian Onyango is out suspended.
De Sa used the break to work on improving their “attacking threats and delivery of set pieces”, areas where Zimbabwean striker Evans Rusike and winger Deolin Mekoa’s contributions will be important in Pretoria.
During their inactivity, the Team of Choice saw Golden Arrows move further away, and they were overtaken by Chippa United.
At least a draw will lift the Midlands outfit back into the top half, at the expense of Chippa.
While Maritzburg went through video analysis sessions to tweak various aspects of their game, SuperSport were kept sharp with continental action.
They overcame Madagascan opposition Elgeco Plus to advance to the second stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.
In between their home and away matches, they squeezed a point from a goalless draw at Free State Stars to stay in fourth place.
SuperSport will climb to second position with a win, provided Bidvest Wits fail to beat bottom side Baroka FC in tonight’s other game.
Stuart Baxter’s outfit are further buoyed by the return to duty of Tefu Mashamaite, Ronwen Williams, Fagrie Lakay and Keegan Ritchie who recovered from various injuries.
Kiwi striker Jeremy Brockie is back among the goals for the home side, following a quiet first half of the season.
He scored in the CAF outing at the weekend and joined Thabo Mnyamane on five goals.
Together with Thuso Phala, who scored the lone goal in the first round match in Pietermaritzburg, and Kingston Nkhatha, SuperSport will ask plenty questions of Maritzburg’s altered backline.
In Onyango’s absence, Fransman and Shabalala are likely to feature in central defence. AS Baroka FC look to stop the rot when they face Absa Premiership title contenders Bidvest Wits away from home tonight, club chairman Khurishi Mphahlele yesterday admitted it’s possible he may have underestimated how high the stakes are in the elite league.
The running of the Limpopo-based outfit has been questioned this week following what appears to be a reversal of an earlier decision to “beef up” the technical team when Mphahlele hired journeyman Jacob Sakala to take over the coaching reins from Kgoloko Thobejane last month.
Sakala, his assistant Edward Williams and technical director Mark Harrison were all suspended PENSIVE: Maritzburg United coach Roger de Sa is looking for his first win since taking over at the Team of Choice at the beginning of the year. Will he get it at SuperSport United tonight? at the weekend for apparently refusing to sign letters assuring management that Baroka, currently bottom of the table, would win their next four league matches in an attempt to avoid relegation. Mphahlele did not want to be drawn into discussing these allegations, but confirmed that he’d asked Thobejane to return to his old post with immediate effect.
“He’s happy to be back and I told him this is his chance to show us that we made a mistake by demoting him in the first place,” the Baroka boss explained. “I cannot tell you why Sakala was suspended because he still has to face a disciplinary hearing and it would be wrong of me to speak about this matter in the media. What I can say is that we are learning some hard lessons and hopefully we can recover. The first half of the season showed us that the PSL level is very different to the National First Division. And our players have seen just how tough every match is. If you don’t take your chances you will pay.”
Sakala was in charge of the 2-1 defeat against Chippa United and the goalless draw against Platinum Stars before he was asked to step aside. Wits pose a serious threat for Baroka, but Mphahlele said he wanted to see whether Thobejane could bring back some stability.
“Kgoloko is a soldier,” the chairman said. “Maybe we were in a rush to remove him, but the (positive) results were not coming. Everyone could see that we play good football, but we were not scoring goals and that is what you need to win matches.”