2016/17 will be the season when the Soweto Giants, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, will be expected to wake up and redeem themselves from what was a rather disappointing 2015/16.
Despite reaching four cup finals between them, both Buccaneers and Amakhosi finished the season empty-handed, with silver medals as consolation after Pirates finished as runners-up in the CAF Confederation Cup and the Nedbank Cup, and with Amakhosi placing second best in both the MTN8 and the Telkom Knockout finals. On the league front, Amakhosi finished a disappointing fifth as defending champions, while Bucs almost missed out on the top-8 bracket, finishing a poor seventh on the log standings.
While Soweto had to settle for second best, it was the city of Tshwane that emerged as big winners, with three lucrative PSL trophies making their way to that part of the country. Even Cape Town finished better than the Soweto Giants, as Ajax Cape Town have the MTN8 trophy to show for their efforts. Surely, without taking anything away from the Urban Warriors, something is not right when the Ikamva 'Chickens' finish the season with a trophy, while Chiefs and Pirates only have silver medals to prove their cup participation. To make things worse, Ajax were responsible for Chiefs' first silver medal of the season after beating them 1–0 in the MTN8 final.
Pirates and Chiefs are to South African football what Real Madrid and Barcelona are to Spanish football, what Zamalek and Al Ahly are to Egyptian football, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko are to Ghanaian football. These are massive institutions with huge history and are always expected to challenge for honours and dominate local football. What has happened in the last couple of seasons has seen a sort of power shift in the PSL, with the two Tshwane teams making their presence felt. And they have not just been challenging the two giants – they have also managed to wrestle away a number of trophies, to such an extent that some football supporters, at some point, have even dubbed the PSL the 'Pretoria Soccer League'.
While this may sound like an exaggeration of reality, the signs are there for everyone to see that if the Soweto Giants don't wake up and smell the coffee, they are once again in for a big shock from their Tshwane rivals.
Mamelodi Sundowns dominated the league title race this past season, even though Bidvest Wits gave them a run for their money until the last few games of the season, and with Platinum Stars and Mpumalanga Black Aces also escorting the Brazilians to the finish line. Coach Pitso Mosimane's team has really set the bar for everyone in the last three seasons, posing a serious challenge to the Soweto Giants' dominance. That they have won two league titles, the Telkom Knockout and the Nedbank Cup in that time bears testimony to the Chloorkop-based club's growing dominance.
Their arch-rivals, SuperSport, have continued to beef up their squad and have picked up the Telkom Knockout and the Nedbank Cup during the past three seasons. Matsatsantsa a Pitori are continuously proving their worth in the elite league and the recent acquisitions made by the club, including bringing in Coach Stuart Baxter, are evidence of the club's ambitions. They are quietly getting rid of the 'small team' tag and that is something which is going to continue to be done at the expense of the Soweto Giants.
Pirates and Chiefs have confirmed some of their new signings coming on board before the start of the season and the jury is still out on the impact they will have as the two giants of South African football look to raid Tshwane in the new season. Chiefs' successful bid for Ramahlwe Mphahlele's signature from right under the nose of Sundowns is a clear sign of the Naturena-based club's mission to change things around next season. While there have been question marks about some of the new signings and changes made in the technical team, only time will tell what will become of these changes. Some expected more from the club that recently released no less than 20 players but, like the club's Football Manager, Bobby Motaung, mentioned, they are not done signing yet. The Buccaneers recruited experienced Muhsin Ertugral to turn the club's fortunes around during their important 80th birthday celebration season and a lot is expected from the Turkish mentor.
Moving on, congratulations are due to Bra Shakes Mashaba and his team on winning the COSAFA Cup. I know there have been mixed feelings about this victory, with many choosing to point out the fact that we mostly fail to do well when it matters most instead of celebrating the achievement. As SAFA's Technical Director says in this week's Revolving Column, winning becomes a habit, so it is very important that we lay a good foundation by winning this trophy. One hopes this is just the beginning of things to come. The exposure our young team got from this tournament will go a long way in shaping them for the future – what we do with the experience and the lessons learned is a different story altogether. We have failed to capitalise on these lessons in the past, where our promising junior national team players just disappeared despite promising careers and the large investment made in them.
As promised in last week's column, we have managed to dig for more information about the Mpumalanga Black Aces players' unpaid bonuses and signing-on
fees and we have the latest update from the previous owners in our Siyagobhoza. It is only fair that we continue to monitor the situation and get to the bottom of the story, to ensure that all parties concerned are happy and honour their commitments.
Cheers
VeeJay
