It's time for the Birds to aim higher

Sibusiso Khumalo. Signed up by Sundowns. Gone. Bennet Chenene. Pre-contract signed. Going. David Mathebula. Pre-contract signed. Going. Katlego “Mahoota” Mashego. PSL top top goalscorer. Sundowns are negotiation. Will probably also walk out the door.

Moroka Swallows finished in 9^th place this season and will potentially lose about 3 key players. Three!

Transfers this past season included Lizo Mjempu, a leftback, who came in for free, Larry Cohen who came in for free after being released by Chippa United (allegedly for a tweet) and even Mahoota, who also came in for free. Noticing a trend?

These new players were added to other free transfers such as Roger Da Costa who came in from a US college league, Rudi Isaacs, Larry Cohen, Aubrey Mathibe, McBeth Sibaya and Dikgang Mabalane to name a few.

One of Swallows' transfer targets, transfer-listed Kagiso Senamela, although very skilful is someone who is currently not wanted by Amazulu, a club that finished in 12^th position.

Swallows has a big weakness at leftback and in the goalkeeping department. Aubrey Mathibe, a decent backup (compared to the current number 1) has just been released. One can only hope a better replacement is coming in - hope being the key word. At leftback, with Shere “Skhotane” Legkethoane as our main leftback, that position has been the weakest link this season. It can almost be described as the “bridge for opposing teams into our net”, as one tweep recently stated. With a glaring weakness in the position, who did Swallows decide to get as backup? Free-agent, Lizo Mjempu of course! That hasn't quite worked out.

Swallows' infamous leaking defence has conceded an equal number of goals as soon-to-be-relegated Chippa United – the joint second highest number in the PSL.

In the striking department there are problems too. Nomvethe is not getting any younger. An early-season injury to “Bhele” could have put Zeca Marques in a very difficult position had Mashego not stepped up to the plate to taken on the goalscoring responsibilities - with that defence, a top-of-the-charts goalscoring season was needed from somebody! The very same Mashego seems to be heading for Chloorkop. The only other out-and-out striker available is the average (really average) Mpho Maleka. So, some serious reinforcement is urgently needed up front.

In midfield, during the course of the 2012/13 season, I would often tweet about how a decent backup for Bennett Chenene was needed. Playing the relatively one-footed Felix Obada on the left has never worked. David Mathebula (although not as out-and-out winger) would also sometimes fill in and now, ironically, both Chenene and Mathebula are heading to Supersport United. The team has no recognised left winger, never mind having a backup player.

In the central postions, the golden oldies at the heart of midfield Macbeth Sibaya, Lefa Tsutsulupa and Giorgi Nergadze will have a combined age of 103 - yes, 103 years - at the end of the 2013/14 system. As previously stated, Sundowns have already taken away the much younger Sibusiso Khumalo. On the wing you can find players such as Dikgang Mabalane and Joseph Makhanya with a combined age of 66 at the end of next season.

With all these departures (departure of creative personnel, I must add), it looks like Lerato Chabangu may need to do it all by himself next season.

The point of this piece is that a team which claims to have the ambition of becoming a competitive team, needs to sign the quality players it wants and not only the players that nobody else seems to need.

This lack of investment has been a big contributing factor to Swallows dropping out of the top half of the table. In the new season Swallows fans may even be closer to kissing the league goodbye than kissing a trophy, and, well, unlike Kelly Rowland, I do not like my kisses down low. 

 

Ajax Cape Town is a good example of the rapid decline that is possible when a club (or the people in charge) continuously fail to provide good investment while letting go of key players: Ajax found themselves in a scary relegation battle this season. They were title contenders just three seasons ago. 

Da Costa recently tweeted his frustration at the recent depature of key players such as David Mathebula

 

One thing is confirmed; Swallows will not be “reclaiming the glory” of the MTN8 cup due to the final league position of the 2012/13 season. But it is now time to start retaining key personnel and also stop this approach of reclaiming the club-less, free agent. It is time to aim high...like a Bird.

Thomas Monyepao

You can find me on twitter @Tom_18Yards

Report: Moroka Swallows 2 - Platinum Stars 0

A man with a lot on his mind, Zeca Marques.

Zeca Marques relieved some of the pressure on his shoulders as Moroka Swallows defeated Platinum with a 2-0 scoreline at the Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday evening, 19 December 2012, at Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium.

 

Goals by Bennett Chenene and Swallows’ top goal-scorer, Katlego Mashego, came at a crucial time for coach Zeca Marques whose side had not won in their eight previous matches.

Swallows now occupy 11^th spot and sit five points above last-placed AmaZulu. 

Q2 winners, Platinum Stars, meanwhile, currently occupy third place, four points behind leaders Kaizer Chiefs, and will enter 2013 still in contention for the title race.

The Birds sat back in the second half, depending largely on counter-attacks to provide a threat on their opponents goal.  The Dube Birds eventually held out for the result and provided a win that will leave their loyal supporters with something to smile about this Christmas.

Katlego Mashego seals he three points with a well-taken goal.

It only takes MTN8 games for the fans to want you gone!

Moroka Swallows have now gone eight competitive matches without a victory.  This poor run of results has put coach Zeca Marques, affectionately known as Majazana, under a lot of pressure.


I attended the last home game against Supersport United and witnessed first-hand how angry and frustrated the Swallows supporters, Maswaiswai were. Many of the Birds faithful want Marques gone.


However, I feel a bit of perspective is needed in this current situation the Birds are experiencing.


One question immediately springs to mind: at the beginning of the season what exactly were the expectations of fans and board alike?


The board did not explicitly state their objectives or Majazana's mandate. Was his mandate to win the league? Was it to repeat last season's performance? Or was the mandate to merely ensure a top 8 finish?


Some supporters expected Swallows to improve on last season (and go on win the league title).  Some supporters, like myself, knew very well that last season was a once-off: the boys played out of their socks and that performance would not be repeated without substantial investment.


Liverpool had a similar experience a few years ago.  In 2009, Liverpool finished as runners-up behind Manchester United, however, since the 2008/09 season, "Pool's league performance has declined drastically to the point where finishing eighth is now described by their current manager as a "fantastic" achievement.


Swallows, just like the legendary club from Merseyside, may be a big club in terms of history but, currently, they are not amongst the biggest in terms of money. Therefore it is no surprise to find three out of the four richest clubs occupying the top 3 places in the Premier Soccer League right now.


On paper, that's to be expected.


Personally, my expectations for Swallows this season were for the team to achieve a top-6 finish and I did not expect to have trophy in the cabinet at all, especially with Mamelodi Sundowns doing what they do best with the chequebook, and Kaizer Chiefs awakening to flex their financial muscle in the transfer market again.


Marques, delivered a trophy within a few months, something which Gordon Igesund was not able to achieve. By turning this Swallows team into MTN8 champions, Marques has already surpassed my expectations.


As an Arsenal supporter - you can trust me on this one - winning a trophy is a much better feeling than securing a respectable league finish.


As bad as we are playing right now, Marques' results, viewed objectively, show that he has been more successful than "GI" (one trophy versus Igesund's tally of zero trophies). I even wrote a blog titled "All hail Majazana" pointing out the reasons as to why Majazana deserves more credit for this achievement.


And yes, Gordon Igesund did indeed build this team up and transform them from being relegation candidates to title contenders within the space of a year. "GI" built the team up, improved their confidence and pretty much turned water into wine (if you listen to some his fans). But, the fact remains that he failed to win a trophy with the team during his stint as head coach. Zeca Marques made a few tweaks here and there (adding free agent Katlego “Mahoota” Mashego to the squad, for example) and took the team to a higher level.


Why is it that when a new coach comes after the previous coach and fails, we blame the new coach, but when the said new coach comes after a relatively successful stint by the previous coach, the credit goes to the previous coach for any success that the team gains?


Here’s one example: Jose Mourinho’s former clubs’ performances usually decline drastically following his departure, and the blame is always laid squarely on the shoulders of the new man.


Yet in Barcelona, new coach Tito Vilanova is not getting the credit he deserves for ensuring Barcelona enjoy one of their best ever La Liga starts to the season. This is due to the fact that some pundits see him as someone who is merely carrying on the good work of former coach, Pep Guardiola.


Marques will probably be fired before the end of year judging on recent statements by Leon Prins.


Yet another local coach will be fired (or allowed to resign depending on how you look at it) due to players performing below par for – using Leon Prins’ words - “no apparent good reason”.


But that is the way things work in the PSL, when it doubt, and when you see “no apparent god reason” for the decline in performance, what do you do? You fire the coach, of course!


Thomas Monyepao

Do follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards. You can find more of my articles on the onetwo.co.za site.

Tough times for the 2012 MTN8 Champions

Whilst many South African football bloggers and journalists have their focus on analysing the problems plaguing a certain Chloorkop-based club, I would prefer to rather focus on the current state of affairs at Moroka Swallows.


The 2012 MTN8 champions are currently going through a poor run of form and will be thankful for this week’s FIFA international break.


The recent poor run includes two home draws a Telkom Knockout cup loss (albeit on penalties), and a disappointing away loss to Bidvest Wits. Their last win came over a month ago – a rather fortunate win against Steve Khompela’s Free State Stars team.


What exactly has contributed to this poor run of form?

Firstly, the loss of key men has contributed to their inconsistency. In the past two games, the Birds have been missing Luvhengo Mungomeni in the backline. The Birds already have a growing reputation for having a leaky defence, and the loss of the form Mamelodi Sundowns man was bound to make the team significantly weaker. In the two matches in which he has been missing, Swallows gained a solitary point from a possible six.


With Mungomeni missing in action, due to the lack of adequate defensive cover, Coach Zeca Marques decided to deploy the Venda boy with a melanin deficiency, Giorgi Nergadze, in Mungomeni’s usual role. Through no lack of effort, but operating with the turning speed of an oil tanker, Nergadze has not been anywhere near the rock solid partner that Marques, would have preferred to partner the robust Ashraf Hendricks.


Swallows are also still suffering from the loss last season’s top goal-scorer, the influential Siyabonga “Bhele” Nomvethe. Many will quickly point out that Katlego Mashego has stepped into Nomvethe’s boots without breaking a sweat, however – in playing the versatile Mashego upfront – Marques lost out on the opportunity of having an extra option on the left to compete with Bennett Chenene (whose performances have dropped severely in recent times) while also resulting in Swallows losing an experienced consistent goal-getter who would feast upon the chances that the team are currently wasting.


This brings me to the second reason for this poor run: wastefulness at the front and carelessness at the back.


The seemingly ageless Dikgang “Terminator” Mabalane, for example, missed two absolute sitters within the space of two weeks against both Leopards and Chippa United at a point in the game where Swallows could have sealed three points had those opportunities been taken.


These were games that the Birds completely dominated but somehow ended up settling for a total of only two point, leaving the man known as Majazana, Zeca Marques, feeling rather frustrated.


Greg Etafia’s penchant for leaving the post which he is meant to be guarding and his peculiar fondness to standing behind the wall during the opposing team’s free-kick, has recently left many of the Swallows faithful quite frustrated. A schoolboy error by Etafia directly contributed to Leopards’ second goal. This basic goalkeeping error cost the team a valuable two points in a game that Swallows deserved nothing less than the maximum. Against Sundowns in the MTN8 semifinal, a similar error did not prove to be as crucial but nonetheless exasperating.


In the recent draw with Chippa United, Etafia decided to leave his near post open like gates of heaven, thereby gifting the ambitious Chilli Boys, Chippa United, an equalizer from what seemed to be a near-impossible angle to score from.


Lastly, Zeca Marques also contributed his fair share to the recent loss of point. Against Bidvest Wits, Majazana replaced left-winger, Bennet Chenene, for the rather one-footed Felix Obada. With the right-footed Obada being played in an unfamiliar role on the left, the 23-year-old looked terribly uncomfortable, wasted a lot of possession, and provided hardly any decent service for Mashego to work with.


One can’t help but feel for Obada as the player literally ran his socks off, but Marques pretty much ended any hopes of snatching a result against Wits with that ill-advised change.


In the final part of the game against Chippa – attempting to shut the back door – Marques, took off Mpho Maleka for Sibusiso Khumalo, and moved Lerato Chabangu into the striker role. However, if Marques saw no problem in moving Chabangu further up later on in the game, then clearly Majazana is aware of the skills possessed by the man who has previously earned Bafana Bafana caps playing as a striker. In this game, Marques deviated from the norm, and played what looked more like a 4-1-4-1 formation. Had Marques stuck to the usual 4-2-3-1 formation instead, Swallows would only have required the use of one creative midfielder (in this case David Mathebula).


This system would have eliminated the need to play the ineffective Maleka upfront and Marques could have rather chosen either the experienced Macbeth Sibaya or Sibusiso Khumalo to help Lefa Tsutsulupa in the middle.


Swallows’ next game is against table-toppers, Kaizer Chiefs. Swallows will motivated by the fact that in this season’s previous Soweto Derby, the Dube Birds gave reigning PSL champions, Orlando Pirates, a 3-0 walloping.


However, should the Birds fail to get a positive result in this fixture, Swallows will probably drop out of the top half of the PSL log and the pressure will start mounting on Zeca Marques who – despite bringing silverware to the club – is yet to win over many of the Birds faithful.


Thomas Monyepao

Do follow me on twitter  and read as I vent my anger and take off my jacket like Majazana.

This post originally appeared on the onetwo.co.za site on the 14th of November 2012.

"Yellow Nation" see red!

I decided to take a foreign colleague of mine to the stadium this afternoon to watch a game between Moroka Swallows and Mamelodi Sundowns so that he can experience “real: South African soccer, live. What a bad day to do that…

For some strange reason, tickets for the game were not made available at Computicket.  Thus, we first had to endure a struggle and look for the place or individual who was selling tickets for the game. This delayed us slightly and we missed out on seeing the game’s opening goal.   In all honesty, the game was not the most entertaining game I have ever seen.

As the game wore on I kept poking to my Ugandan friend, Steven, to show him how the tension in the Yellow Nation’s (Sundowns supporters’) stand was increasing as the game wore in. The worst was yet to come.

The game ended 2-0 in favour of the home team.  The coaches’ interviews were being done, while in the background, the traveling band of Mamelodi Sundowns supporters was busy devising a way of breaking down the fence on the east side of the stadium.   

As I was seated in the main grand stand with fellow Moroka Swallows supporters, things didn’t look like they would get out of control.

 Although I am not quite the best photographer in town, I managed to take a few snaps which tell the story better than I can.  There was chaos. Steven was stunned.

Notice how some fans have pieces of what used to be a fence in the hands

Downs fans even tipped over the coaches' dugout

Steven could not believe his eyes

I think the violence lasted for about thirty minutes after the final whistle. Supporters - kids and adults alike - were running wild all over the Dobsonville stadium pitch, while the main group was causing trouble with the police and security officials. They were outnumbered by the unruly supporters and I wondered how badly this would end – we have all seen civilians shot for causing far less trouble without directly attacking the police.

Alex Tshakaone managed to escape unscathed into the tunnel after he decided t make a run for it when it began to seem clear that this time the Yellow Nation was here to make a statement and would not back down no matter which club official Sundowns sent to try calm them down.  The fans have clearly had enough of coach Johan Neeskens.  Few coaches manage to keep their job at the helm one of the Big Three with a record like that.

As I write this, I am pretty sure Neeskens will be relieved of his duties tomorrow morning. The fans have been heard chanting Pitso Mosimane’s name (yes, the very same Pitso that almost every soccer fan in South Africa described as a “clueless coach” after his rather unsuccessful time as national team coach).

This could be Pitso’s chance to return to the big time. However, do not be surprised if Sundowns owner Patrice Motsepe whips out his cheque book and buys out the contract of another Dutch coach – but only this time, a Dutch coach who has actually enjoyed success in the Premier Soccer League.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I am referring to none other than Ruud Krol.

Watch this space.

Thomas Monyepao

Do follow me on twitter

A finish that City Kun't have imagined!

This post originally appeared on the Sport24.co.za site.


At this very moment – for most of you reading this piece – it is a Monday morning and you’ve just about made sense of the crazy events that occurred yesterday in the Barclays English Premier League (EPL). Goals, goalkeeping errors, flying elbows, coaching masterstrokes, and loads of drama. What more can you ask for? What a finish from the man they call Kun, and what an end to the season.

You could not have scripted this better. The commentators repeated this statement often. Every time they said that, the harder it became to believe what was happening on my small TV set. One does not need high definition large screens to experience the breath-taking drama which one was exposed to last night. Most soccer fans and “experts” predicted victories for both Manchester United and Manchester City in their respective games but anybody who predicted that finish before kickoff would have been labeled “insane” or “ambitious” at best. But, what we got from the EPL last night not only reminded us all why we love the league so much, it also reminded us why we love the game of football so much.

A few heart attacks, strokes, tears, screams of jubilation and frustration, and maybe some broken chairs in few people’s homes – all of this within the space of a mere 90 minutes. The cricket and rugby executives must be wondering how and when (if ever) they will match the drama and viewership that only football can generate. Even the shortened cricket version of T20 – great innovation, it must be said – has not managed to come close to matching the drama and various scenarios that can occur within less than 2 hours in football.

Anyway, today is City’s day and I have to congratulate the whole City team for their attitude, for never giving up (even when there was an eight-point deficit), and for the beautiful football they dished out (the Old Trafford special being my favourite pick as Arsenal fan!) and their self-belief and never-say die attitude in that memorable final league match of the season.   Even Roberto Mancini, the City head coach, admitted after the game that he himself had lost belief that they could snatch victory. In the age that we live in, where managers are fired within the blink of an eye, one has to give credit to the suits at the Etihad Stadium who did no pull the trigger as soon as the ship hit stormy waters. They let the captain of the ship handle his business. He did what needed to be done. He “recasted the outcasts” (Tevez and Balotelli), dealt with various egos within the team, and for us neutrals, he unleashed great attacking brilliance from the likes of Sergio “Kun” Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez, Adam Johnson, David Silva and former Arsenal darling, Samir Nasri on poor Premier League defences. It has been a great season and when the going got tough, the mind games got going. Since City can now be called Champions, can we agree that his there was a certain science behind his sometimes mad quotes and mind games?  Well, that might be a topic for another day.

Jose Mourinho gets a lot of respect, deservedly, for winning trophies wherever he goes, however, Mancini also deserves credit for taking this team to the top despite the various personalities he had to deal with. Let us not forget that he won three Serie A titles on the trot, thereby laying the foundation for Mourinho’s success later on at Inter Milan.

It must have made the victory even sweeter for City fans when you look at how the scene unfolded on this Sunday evening. Manchester United players and supporters alike thought they had the title wrapped up before Kun stole it back dramatically in injury time. Manchester City may be referred to as the noisy neighbours but go to most countries and you will realize how loud and arrogant Manchester United supporters are (and you will find any of them, trust me). City fans have every right to brag and be in your ear all week long. They suffered 44 years of banter and teasing from their neighbours.

I, for one, cannot wait for next season. Let’s hope the PSL, this coming weekend, can also provide more drama. And, guess what? After the PSL finale, we still have Euro 2012 in Polkraine to look forward to next month! It sure is great to be football fun, huh?
That’s all from me. ‘Til next time.


Thomas Monyepao
Follow me on  twitter for more football debates, @Tom_18yards.

PSL Twars - Bird warfare

 

 















Now, I have already posted my bi-weekly piece for the 18 Yards blog.   But after some rather comical hurling of insults from the official Moroka Swallows twitter account, I could not help but share this rather weird experience. 

Some of you might already have noticed the irony of "the birds" tweeting/ twarring, I can compare it to "Love and Peace" supporters being violent on Saturday night.

Let’s  begin with what actually sparked this mini war-of-words between me (@Tom_18Yards) and  @MorokaSwallows (let’s refer to the guy on the keyboard as “Mr Invisible”).  Mr Invisible decided to wage war over what was, in my opinion, an innocent comment. I am still being bombarded with verbal missiles as I type! It is rough on these twitter streets!  It is actually hilarious when one looks at the tweet that brought on this whole guerilla warfare (or Bird warfare in this case). I am guilty of mentioning my views on twitter (I thought that’s what normal people do? Is it just me?)




  This opinion is based on my personal experience as a PSL fan.  I tweeted that [it is] “rare to find Swallows supporters below the age of 40.”  That little comment seemed to send alarm bells of Israel-Palestine proportions in the Bird’s nest and the mighty Mr Invisible fired the first missile and replied to my tweet by saying “jealousy stinks”.  BOOM!   Whoa! I still don’t understand how that comment came about. 

 

Normally, I would ignore invitations to these “twars” but as a football blogger I can’t exactly be perceived as a “jealous” idiot, for obvious reasons.   So, I pulled out the spirit of Umkhonto weSizwe (don't laugh), I gathered weapons and promptly fired back a missile of my own. The missiles kept going back and forth. Between Meneer Invisible and I, I doubt my comment was more damaging to the Swallows brand than his sensitivity to a neutral PSL fan’s opinion. The subsequent hard-headedness that was to follow, when he failed to realize that I never actually said that Swallows had no fans under the age of 40 left me utterly bemused.  

As I type, I have just been told, “your tweets are damaging to the #Swallows brand, you referenced our account. It’s our job to protect it #FollowtheBirds”.  

Well, such a lack of understanding and such silly “twars” are not helping improve the image of the Swallows brand to other fans now are they, Mr Invisible?  I was also reprimanded by Mr Invisible and told that “you’re wrong to claim there’s no U40 #swallows fans. Plus what’s so wrong with a kid supporting their parent’s team?”  

Mr Invisible touches on two issues. Firstly, he accuses me of claiming there are no “under 40” Swallows fan.  My  short tweet contained the following words: “rare to find Swallows supporters below the age of 40.”  One fan, @Mpela3, clearly did not take issue with my tweet and even replied and tweeted “maybe I’m the rare type supporter”.  Now, was that tweet by @Mpela3 also “damaging to the Swallows brand” or is it alright in Mr Invisible’s mind once it is clear which side of the fence one is standing on.  Secondly, I briefly touched on the issue of why we South Africans support the teams we do two weeks ago.   One of my tweets clearly stated that “U cnt claim jealousy wen im stating wat Ive xperienced as a PSL fan.I hv neva met a SFC fan below de age of 40” to which I received an arrogant Bobby Motaung-esque reply from Mr Invisible as he tweeted the following, “Hahahaha you’re joking right?”  I got the feeling that Mr Invisible was under the idea that I was insulting the club instead of just expressing my views, and the more I tried talking sense the more missiles Mr Invisible kept firing.  It seemed to be a useless exercise trying to use logic to show that I am not the enemy, but then again I tend to get into a lot of these useless arguments with soccer fans almost everywhere I go. "When logic fails, anger prevails", is some people's philosophy.

Since “serving divorce papers” to Family Business FC, Swallows was always one of the teams that I was considering supporting, for simple reasons.  Firstly, they are the nearest team from where I live. Secondly, I like their brand of football - as I stated in my previous blog. Lastly, the club does not seem to have that many fans, and I'd honestly  prefer supporting the "smaller" teams in the PSL.  Less glory-hunters and plastic fans and I'd assume they appreciate their fans more than the bigger teams.  But if this is how Swallows and the rest of the other clubs want to communicate with ordinary fans with such arrogane and preferring to rather  argue over petty issues, they should not wonder why the stadiums are empty. 

Name-calling is really not necessary, least of all from a club with such poor match attendance figures. I have to be blunt about that.  However, I will put this immature twar behind me and continue enjoying the football that the Beautiful Birds dish out weekly as they compete with the big guns in an exciting PSL title race.


I must give a special shout-out to the three “under 40” fans of Moroka Swallows which I now know exist thanks to this twitter war -who said in war there are no victors, huh? @Mpela3, @iamMelu_C and @ohone1, I look forward to maybe meeting you guys in the stands so that I too can say I have met a Swallows fan under the age of 40. I can then be safe from twitter warfare from the Mr Invisible (and hopefully from the Kaizer Chefs fans who were hurling all sorts of objects this past weekend). 

 

To Mr Invisible (the guy behind the keyboard responsible for @MorokaSwallows’ tweets) I will repeat what I tweeted (in proper English this time): “You can’t claim jealousy when I’m stating what I’ve experienced as a PSL fan. I have never met a Swallows fan below the age of 40.”  You, Mr Invisible, cannot say “that’s unfound” and “a myth”. Your database has nothing to do with my personal experience. While we are on that topic, feel free to publish the official figures as far as club membership is concerned – here’s a better idea, tweet the figures, and I will happily retweet.

This piece was a bit informal and not my best work but I had to share this experience. I know twars are usually more vicious with more insults but since I don’t usually engage in them, this was a weird experience, especially as it was not with an actual person but with an official club account. 

I guess now would be a good time to say the magic words: “Don’t follow me, follow the Birds.”  If you prefer not to follow the Birds, well, you can just follow me on twitter (no twars, asseblief!).  

Follow me on twitter and let’s talk football.

'Til next time

Thomas Monyepao