Arsenal and the EPL glass ceiling

With Arsenal now sitting in 3^rd place in the Premier League with 6 games to play, I find it rather odd that some 'experts' would call this “yet another season of predictable frustration”.

I prefer to see it as yet another season of “predictable position”.

I stopped believing Wenger’s optimistic views on Arsenal's title hopes a couple of years ago. They are contradicted by his satisfaction at Arsenal merely reclaiming their top-four 'trophy'. Wenger is an optimist of note but I doubt that he genuinely believes that this Arsenal side has the quality to be a title-contender.

Technically speaking, Arsenal are still the 3^rd best team in England (if we base it on the final league standings of the 2011/12 season). However, they finished a massive 19 points behind the winners and the runners-up, Manchester City and Manchester United, respectively. Quite the gap.

I will say, and have been saying, that – as things stand in the English Premier League - you have the two Manchester giants, then you have the rest. Manchester United seemingly have the EPL title wrapped up while Manchester City (who lie in second place) are favourites to take second biggest domestic trophy, the FA Cup on the 11^th of May 2013. This almost seems to reaffirm the notion that the two teams are currently in a class of their own.

The difference between the Manchester giants and the rest might not be of La Liga proportions but it exists, nonetheless. Logically, this means that for every other team in the league, as things stand, 3^rd place is the glass ceiling that exists for the likes of Arsenal, the work-in-progress Chelsea and Liverpool, and the ever-improving Tottenham Hotspur.

To come 3^rd is be the “best of the rest”. My realistic, and slightly optimistic expectations at the beginning of the season were a 3^rd place finish and no trophies (as usual). As things stand, Arsenal are in third place, with no chance of winning a trophy. As things stand, realistic expectation is matching reality. And if Arsenal stay in that position until the end of the season, I have no reason to feel “predictably frustrated” as others might expect.

True Gooners who are able to add in an adequate dose of objectivity and realism to their expectations will have expected nothing more. A trophy would have been a great bonus, but not a genuine expectation after losing the two key players from the previous season.

As to who is to blame for the sale of key players and thrifty use of money between Arsene Wenger and the board, I am not entirely sure. I do, however, have massive respect for Wenger in how he manages to get Arsenal into the Champions League season after season with less-than-spectacular looking team sheet.

Yes, the glory days have not returned. And yes, a “big club” should be challenging for trophies year in, year out. But excuse me, does Liverpool not count as a “big club”?

With the passing of time, comes change. Does anybody remember Nottingham Forest? They happen to have won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980. Everton, that who are battling to stay in touch to qualify for the Champions League, were previously a force in English Football. They last won a English League title in 1987. In 2001, current champs, Manchester City, were relegated from the Premier League. 12 years on, powered by Sheik Mansour's money, they have claimed their first EPL trophy in 44 years. With the passing of time, comes change. Heck, just look at Cardiff City in the red-coloured kit! Let's say it all together now kids... With the passing of time, comes change.

The point is that big teams don’t remain big teams forever in some instances. And in this case, Arsenal fanatics have to accept that while Arsenal remain a “big club”, as things stand, expecting anything more than 3^rd place and at best one trophy is a bit unrealistic. Some may laugh at these “low expectations” but wait until Liverpool return to Champions League football to see what a few years of UEFA Champions League-less seasons affect expectation of supporters; their fans will be thrilled to return.

While experts may struggle to understand the loyalty of the #WengerIn brigade. The view that a new manager, be it Jose “The Special One” Mourinho, or Borussia Dortmund coach, Jürgen Klopp, would merely come in and turn Arsenal into a championship contender without adequate support from the board is a bit naïve.

Arsenal may not be bringing in trophies but he is doing alright in reaching that glass ceiling. Of course, Wenger is not blameless; he's responsible for giving high wages (relative to the value of a player) to individuals such as Bendtner, Squillaci, Almunia and Andres Santos to name a few. But try finding a faultless manager in the league, Sir Alex included...

Until the financial dealings at Ashburton Grove change (or Financial Fair Play rules fully kick in), Arsenal will most likely remain under the glass ceiling. Until that point, Gunners fans should let Le Professeur" continue without so much criticism because they are becoming becoming “predictably frustrating”.

Thomas Monyepao

Follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards

Innovative solutions needed for referees in the PSL

Week-in, week-out, we, the United Social Networkers of the nation, are bombarded with a stream of tweets and status updates loaded with abusive, insulting and offensive language (referees know I am referring to Law 12) directed at the Premier Soccer League's referees.

On Saturday, we saw some of this oft-seen abusive language we read on our smart-phones turn into actual physical abuse in the match between Golden Arrows and table-toppers Kaizer Chiefs. A Chiefs supporter ran more than a hundred meters into the field and hit referee, Lwandile Mfiki, with the infamous vuvuzela.  The fan's distress seemed to have been caused by Mfiki's decision to give Chief's midfield kingpin, Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane a red card in the 33^rd minute.

This type of behaviour is embarrassing almost serves to emphasize the notion that our PSL is indeed “a joke” (as a classmate recently stated in a class discussion).

If the standard of refereeing is a problem and looks amateurish, then why is it that we, errrm, still have amateur referees?  And I mean amateur in the literal sense. This is because a lot of referees have normal day jobs outside of their duties with the whistle.

Being a referee myself (at youth level), I know how demanding it can be to stay in shape and be up to date with the laws. Life of a referee isn't easy, and even when you plan for things and study time, life happens.  It is extremely difficult.  But that's my simple, limited view, as an amateur.But I am getting sidetracked.  I believe it is time to start talking about solutions instead of merely complaining.

Many have provided their own solutions to the problem on twitter and I hope many more will offer their ideas on how we can deal with referee issues in PSL.  Some will say refs should be banned or dropped to lower divisions, other will say refs should have their salaries cut, and the less-logical among us will say that we should moer them with a vuvuzela for costly mistakes.

I just cant help but wonder if some of that Q-Innovation money could have been diverted to one aspect that directly contributes to the enjoyment of the game by fans - refereeing.  We currently have a tight title-finish coming up and instead of discussions revolving around the actual football being played, discussions mainly revolved around the referee, offside decisions and the like.  Television pundits are probably becoming more accustomed with the FIFA Laws of the Game than tactical innovations in football.

The Q-Innovation idea was supposed to generate excitement and I presume, attract even more fans to the PSL games.  It was supposed to make every game important and keep supporters interested.  I am not a fan of the idea (as usual, I put my feelings in words).  Why was the extra R6 million (R1.5 million multiplied by four) not rather redirected to improving referees or specifically, their salaries?

The powers that be were more than ready to “innovate” and introduce quarterly prizes in the league.  Why weren't “innovative” methods introduced to not improve referees performance, and more specifically, their salaries?  This could gradually evolve to having a full-time panel of dedicated referees.  Becoming a member of the PSL referees panel could eventually end up being viewed as “hitting the big-time” for qualified referees.  With a lot more money to lose for poor performance, this could also have the positive effect of increasing accountability should they be dropped to lower levels.

At the moment, the PSL does not even have a review system in place to look at poor decision made in games.  So, shocking decisions that may arise are not even corrected. In the recent case, Stuart Baxter will just have to accept the suspension of his key player and get on with it/f*** off (delete as appropriate, hehehe).

With five or so games remaining in the league for most teams.  What impact will referees have on who wins the title and who get relegated?  Will the poor referees receive better pay next season?  Will the likes of Mfiki be suspended in the coming weeks and months?  Do we have better referees waiting in the lower divisions?

I do not claim to know all the answers but I am pretty certain that the PSL now needs a solution.  An intervention of some sorts...   An innovation!

I only have one “Q” to ask, when will the men in charge introduce some sort of R-Innovation?

Thomas Monyepao

Please make use of T-Innovation and follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards.

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.

T20 and Q-Innovation: Shorter formats for both cricket and PSL fans...

 464 minutes, 367 deliveries, and 110 runs from almost 6 sessions of batting. This was only part of an enthralling 5 days of cricket between the number one-ranked team in the world, South Africa, and Australia, a country that has lost only 2 home Test series in the past 2 decades.


Make no mistake about it, this was a 10 out of 10 performance from both teams and it provided viewers with huge amounts of drama.


The purists will no doubt have enjoyed such a match.


The suits, however, will tell you that T20 cricket is where the future (and the money) of the game lies. They will say this based on the belief that the general public just does not have enough time to watch five consecutive six-hour days of cricket which may or may not result in one team winning. They will justify this by stating that Test cricket does not meet the relevance of a generation for whom option, speed and simplicity are the most important things. Whether that is true or not, one can see the logic in their thinking.


The legendary Premier Soccer League chairman, Dr Irvin Khoza, highlighted this view at the launch of Q-innovation saying, “Ours has become a world of instant gratification where ‘now’ is the only time.”


Using this logic, Dr Khoza devised and subsequently introduced the new innovation, Q-Innovation, which ticks all the boxes: simplicity, speed (it does not take nine months to find a winner), and option (the glory-hunting fan can “switch off” from soccer until the next quarter where each team starts the “quarter” afresh with fair chance at winning).


I must admit, however, that at the moment, I am not a big fan of the Q-innovation. South African soccer clubs already participate in three tournaments (the MTN8, Telkom Knockout, and the Nedbank cup) – and this is excluding the CAF tournaments and the various pre-season tournaments which, unlike in the rest of the world, local fans actually take very seriously. These tournaments provide more than enough speedy and simple routes to glory. The most complicated thing in this process is usually explaining the away-goal rule to a friend in the bar who has had one too many pink drinks.


The Absa Premiership therefore serves as the only competition in the season which is played over different months and seasons whereby teams go through peaks and troughs on the way to success or maybe to relegation. Every match counts even though every match may not have the do-or-die factor. Every win, every point gained, and every goal contributing to a team’s goal difference is important. Similarly – in Test cricket – every session, every over lost to rain, and every dropped catch – as Faf du Plessis will tell you – can mean the difference between not only winning a match but winning a series, and sometimes even mean the difference between becoming the top ranked team in the world. The many twists and turns on the way to success grip viewers’ attention for prolonged periods.


The recent Test match between Australia and the Proteas had South African viewers in despair for most of the five days. with South Africans collectively breathing a huge sigh of relief following the South African batsmen’s resolve to bat out the final day and salvage a an incredible draw. And there is still, potentially, another five days of cricket left in the series to decide the winner of this Test series and decide who leaves with number one position in the world Test ranking. This is what the game is about for the purists.


In the league, unlike in cup competitions, the best team will normally win the trophy. Squad depth and superior man-management over the course of nine months, coupled with injuries, suspensions, momentum, and other factors contribute to the drama that is league football. Every team plays against all the other teams twice – a fair method of determining a champion.
Q-innovation, however, consist of seven or eight matches. Each particular club won’t play against all the other teams in the league.


The obvious advantage in this scenario is that the PSL may manage to keep viewers’ attention over the course of the season instead of only attracting large-scale attention during the final five or six games of the season. Q-Innovation is, essentially, four shorter competitions within one larger competition. Technically, this means eight different local competitions that PSL clubs compete in, thereby satisfying the appetite of the modern consumer who requires speed and simplicity over the marathon of a regular league season.


I do wonder where the changes and the innovations will end. When One Day Internationals were introduced to cricket, many thought that no further serious innovations would be introduced to the game. However, T20 came along and it has revolutionized the sport; offering spectators a game of cricket in less than four hours.


Will we see similar changes occurring in football one day? Will the Q-innovation concept spread across the world and be improved and simplified even more? In twenty years time, will league competitions even exist? Will we live in a world where we have an abundance of tournaments with simple formats providing winners in quick time?

“I have said time and time again that you cannot dry today’s washing with yesterday’s sun. – Irvin Khoza

Make of this statement what you will. It is, however, refreshing to see that the PSL chairman is open to innovation and change. Soccer competes with other sports and recreational activities for people’s time and money.


In the search for more of the nation’s Randelas, I do hope that the true test of a champion, the league, is never lost.

Thomas Monyepao

This post originally appeared on the onetwo.co.za site on the 27th of November 2012.

Keep the conversation going in the comments below  on twitter @onetwosoccer or chat with me @tom_18yards

Don't buy target men, dont buy!

The target man upfront is the guy that most South African soccer fans (unlike the English) love to hate, and absolutely hate to love. Like rain in the summer, he is sometimes described as a necessary evil, at best.

Often providing an outlet upfront for long ball-playing defenders lacking in the confidence to provide incisive passes or deep runs into the pitch, or acting as the side-kick for the short, nippy little fella in a classic 4-4-2 - or modernized 4-4-1-1 - the target man is necessary to provide balance and ensure the system works efficiently but rarely offers an enjoyable experience for the South African viewer.

I happened to be at the Orlando Pirates versus Ajax Cape Town game at Orlando stadium on Tuesday night and calmly sat and observed many of the Pirates faithful booing and heckling the new Pirates signing, Takesure Chinyama, even before the Bucs substitute had managed to get a touch of the ball. All of this changed after Takesure - you’ve got to love that name - provided a great finish to a neatly worked goal. The “supporters” all left the stadium mimicking his winding up celebration.  All seemed to have been forgotten.

Having also watched the recent Kaizer Chiefs games against Wits University and Premier Soccer League rookies Chippa United, I noticed how the crowd was getting on the back of Kingston Nkhatha, The Glamour Boys’off-season signing who plays up front as the sidekick in the ongoing Bernard Parker show. 

Nkhatha enjoyed a relatively good start with two goals in his opening two league games. But, as is the rule for target men in the local game, as soon as the goals dry up, the fans put their hands up and the substitution sign can be seen all over the stands. Just ask big Philemon Masinga – boo-boys favourite and the man responsible for scoring that great World-Cup qualifying goal against Congo in 1997. Had Siphiwe Tshabala not scored THAT goal in the 2010 World Cup, we would still be forced to watch replays of that thunderous strike every time the national broadcaster plans to show a major soccer event.

The boo-boys' favourite,Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, in his prime

It almost seems like the target man is seen as the antithesis of the flashy diski “style”.  This is the guy that rarely, if ever, provides an exciting step-over, or a tsamaya that provides our friends at Supersport Football with thrilling highlights-reel material.  

The local game is full of short, nippy players full of pace, skill and whole wardrobe full of tricks and flicks.  As  I saw in the Pirates game, your Oupa Manyisa’s and Tlou Segolela’s of this world tended to provide the trickery and, unfortunately, when the ball came to the target man, he was either too slow to get past the man or to latch on to a through ball. At other times he intentionally slowed the game down, holding up play and waiting for support (which is probably why the coach brought him on in the first place).  This usually causes a lot of frustration for local fans.

Holding up play is not attractive – it doesn’t quite go along with images an average South African visualizes when thinking about diski.  This usually leads to calls for the big guy upfront to be taken off for a more graceful player, regardless of the whether this replacement will be as effective.

This mindset has probably contributed in arguably the best target man in the League, Mame Niang, playing for PSL rookies, Pretoria University.  Tuks, as the Pretoria-based team is commonly known, plays beautiful football while Niang diligently provides a different route to goal and is almost unstoppable in the air – just ask the similarly tall, Mathew Booth.

Should the coach bows under the pressure and answer the fans’ prayers and decides to put in the flashy player and fails to achieve the most desirable result, fans then blame the coach for either (a) putting Mr Target Man in the starting line-up to begin with (b) having favourites, or (c) wasting “talent” on the bench (whatever that means). And as we all know, in the PSL, job security for a coach is all but a dream. 

This is where coaching team with a very small, calmer fan base is to a team’s advantage in South Africa. Gavin Hunt, coach of the three-time PSL champions Supersport United, is never afraid to tinker with his line-up from tactical or disciplinary reasons and put in the likes of Glen Salmon or in the current setup, Nathan Paulse. This is because the small band of supporters is not as demanding and I should think it is a bit easier to resist pressure from 1,500 or so fans rather than 40,000.

But that’s South African soccer for you. Beautiful soccer is at times more important than winning soccer. For some time after he left Orlando Pirates, Kosta Papic was a firm fan-favourite in South Africa simply because of the how he managed to get the Pirates team of that period playing silky, speedy, and slick football unlike the more successful Gordon Igesund and Roy Barreto (both whom were let go by the club despite winning a league title).

As a consumer of the game, think to yourself: what’s more important to you,  champagne football football or championship football?

Thomas Monyepao

"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