Richards Bay FC have retained their topflight status following a successful campaign in the mini league of the PSL's relegation/promotion play-offs.
Having finished 15th in the DStv Premiership at the end of the 2023/24 season, the KwaZulu-Natal outfit has been up against two Motsepe Foundation Championship sides in the University of Pretoria who finished the season in second place, as well as Baroka FC who came out third.
While it is all good and well for teams to get a second chance after a failed season in the top flight, many in the fraternity feel that the current format of the play-offs is disadvantageous to second tier clubs.
Veteran coach Walter Rautmann is one of those advocating for the system to be changed and he explains why, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
The Good
"The playoffs should not be there in my opinion and instead, there should be two top teams promoted from the second division after each and every season, with the bottom two teams from the PSL (top flight) getting relegated. There should be two teams up and two down automatically, finish and clear," said Rautmann.
The Bad
"I have been saying for years that the PSL playoffs format is wrong and that it should be changed. The way it is now, it's nonsense and it is disadvantageous to clubs from the second tier. The playoffs favour PSL, because in the second division there are different ways of doing things like the U23 rule that is being used," he said.
The Ugly
On Dan Malesela's suspension at Baroka
"It's not the first time that something like that has happened, it happens all the time. It happened to me as well. I coached so many teams in Limpopo and things like that happened to me at different clubs. Club owners are all the same and they are only in the game for money, and they don't care about coaches and players. For them, it's just a chance to make money and they have got no idea about football and it's disgusting. I mean, a coach has done so well by leading the team to the playoffs, and then after one game into the playoffs you put him on suspension. Dan Malesela was replaced by (Morgan) Mammila whom I call Pep Mammila because I believe he thinks he is Pep Guardiola. He is a former police detective and unfortunately, the team (Baroka) didn't win a single match and looked in shambles. As a coach, I'd never accept an offer to join a team that's already in the play-offs through the hard work of another coach, it's as simple as that. You don't stab a colleague or another coach in the back. Maybe (Bheki) Cele (South African Minister of Police) can take him (Mammila) and give him a job as a police officer to catch criminals," concluded Rautmann.
Should the PSL playoffs format be changed?
