Relegated AmaZulu cough up R82m to replace Aces in the PSL: another nail in the coffin of South African football

USUTHU! anxious AmaZulu fans

DESPICABLE. DISGRACEFUL. DISASTROUS. Those are the words that come to mind as we sit here tonight, contemplating a footballing world where a relegated club can simply buy their way back in to the top flight after finishing bottom of the table.

The irony for me, of course, is that it's my favourite PSL club AmaZulu who are attempting to burgle their way back in to South Africa's crumbling PSL via the back door, using cash and an utter disregard for what FIFA calls "sporting integrity".

AmaZulu are not one of those recently formed infant clubs like Choppa, sorry Chippa, United, who sack coaches and move cities at the drop of a hat.

The jolly green giants of KwaZulu Natal captured my support when I worked and played in Durban in the early 1980s. The warcry "USUTHU" combined with the glamour of players like Joel Faya and Henry "Shaka Zulu" Cele persuaded me to write to their kit manafacturers to procure the last available xxxl replica shirt just last year.

Article 30 of the NSL constitution clearly states promotion

CANNOT be bought (from @TiisetsoMalepa)

But what they are doing is simply WRONG. To pay Mpumalanga Black Aces R82m (amounts vary) to take their place in the PSL as well as five or six of their players CANNOT BE RIGHT for South African football.

They did it once before of course. In 2007, they bought Dynamos' PSL place after relegation, and in those grim days such ridiculous shenanigans appeared acceptable practice.

But then came the FIFA circular number 1132 from Jerome Valcke, dated December 2007. Under the heading SPORTING INTEGRITY, PRINCIPLES OF PROMOTION AND RELEGATION, the despicable loophole was firmly closed.

Quoting article 2 (e) of the FIFA statutes, Valcke re-iterated the view that promotion and relegation were sacrosanct, that the global association exists to "prevent all methods or practices which might jeopardise the integrity of matches or competitions, or give rise to the abuse of association football."

In Spain, weeks before, Granada had purchased another club's name and identity in order to secure promotion, a move of such sporting injustice that FIFA felt they had to act,

The most important part of the new regulations? "A club's entitlement to take part in a domestic league championship shall depend principally on sporting merit".

It goes on to insist ONLY promotion and relegation ON THE FIELD OF PLAY would be acceptable.

The full link to that FIFA document, signed by the now-embattled Jerome Valcke, can be found HERE http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/circular_1132_en_34078.pdf

But of course, Irvin Khoza has been in charge of our PSL since the early 1990s. Quite how that happened, or how he came to be owner and chairman of Orlando Pirates remains shrouded in mystery. And boy, are we paying for it.

When AmaZulu went down in 16th and last place at the end of last season claiming Free State Stars had "fixed" their salvation, Khoza said nothing. His CEO Brand de Villiers muttered something about an "ongoing investigation" in to Free State Stars' remarkable escape from the lower reaches of the PSL. We've heard nothing since.

Then, when AmaZulu (and relegated bed-fellows Moroka Swallows) were charging about trying to persuade Bloemfontein Celtic, Polokwane City, Platinum Stars and Chippa United to sell their PSL status, Khoza said NOTHING. Neither did sports minister Fikile Mbalula, always so loud and pointless on other sporting subjects, nor Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association, now unelected mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.

Throughout the build-up to this craziness, South African football failed to show leadership. Already in trouble over pre-World Cup match-fixing and the infamous $10m African Diaspora Fund, presumably they had other things to talk about. Like how our national football team didn't have enough players to field a team 24 hours before the clash with Mauritius at Dobsonville, or why it took nearly a year to appoint Neil Tovey as our Technical Director though he was always the only viable candidate.

And in to this awful mess, with PSL attendances slipping to record lows and the transfer market crumbling in to a slew of free transfers, bonuses for agents and contract non-renewals, AmaZulu's dreadful attempt at resurrection apparently makes barely a ripple.

But consider this, if the move goes ahead:

1 Will anybody bother to watch the "relegation dog-fight" next season if they know the side struggling to survive can simply buy their way back in?

2 If Spar's best buddy Patrick Sokhela, the AmaZulu owner, has R45m (or more, R82m according to certain reports) to spend, WHY DIDN'T HE BUY A FEW PLAYERS and avoid relegation rather than spending nothing and changing coaches three times as they slipped through the trap door?

3 What of the Aces' fans who loyally supported their club - the only PSL franchise in Mpumalanga - throughout last season? Do they get their money back now they find themselves supporting an NFD club? Will the Mbombela Stadium survive?

4 Turkish coach Muhsin Etrugral, who started pre-season before any other club in the PSL, now finds himself preparing for a season in the PSL without his top players (at least five have been told they must now move to Durban and play for AmaZulu in the PSL next season) is he REALLY going to meekly accept this deal?

5 Given Bafana Bafana's awful form - one point in AFCON2015, two penalty shoot-out failures in CONSAFA and a 0-0 draw against Africa's smallest nation Gambia to kick-off AFCON2017 qualifying - shouldn't we be considering spending money on players and creating better teams rather than buying promotion? 

What AmaZulu are doing amounts to a betrayal of South African football; the easy way out, the last-minute Iron Duke style of doing things. Instead of spending millions on fighting relegation, bringing in better players, offering bigger win bonuses, Sokhela sees fit to sack coaches and splash millions purely for status. It can't be right.

Our only hope, surely, is that FIFA or CAF will step in to make sure such a deal CANNOT happen. Sporting integrity will NOT be ground in to the dust. Sadly, given the state of both our continental and world footballing bodies, I won't be holding my breath.

Destined for the top: A brief history of South Africa's new Technical Director Neil Tovey

CONTINENTAL CHAMPION: Neil Tovey in 1996

NEIL TOVEY in 1981? Skinny teenager. Great shot. Good engine, could get up and down, box to box. Rarely lost possession. Won his first South African League title when he was still a teenager.

Neil Tovey today? South Africa's most qualified coach. Has done the rounds. Has had his share of personal challenges. Still has much to offer.

When he was announced as the South African Football Association's new Technical Director on Saturdayaround 5pm, the old nostalgia kicked in. I first came across Neil on the training ground outside the now-demolished New Kingsmead in Durban 35 years ago.

He was a year younger than me but made me look like a novice at training on a ground which now lies buried beneath the new Moses Mabhida Stadium. I'd generally fall over when he went one-on-one with me. At the time, Neil Tovey was an 19-year-old just pushed in to professional football by a chap called Clive Barker. He made the transition to the paid ranks with barely a blink.

Neil’s big brother Mark was the frightening one back in 1980. He had a big job with Puma, handed out the kit and barked when I lost possession. Though my primary role was as a football writer at the local newspaper, the Natal Mercury, I played for Durban City’s reserves while the blue-and-white hooped first team dominated the early years of non-racial football in South Africa.

My first year in Durban after university was quite a season for City, a team established in the old white NFL by Norman "Silver Fox" Elliott in 1959. Incredibly, smooth manager Butch Webster and his diminutive coach Barker created a side to match the NPSL giants from Soweto and they won Abdul Bhamjee’s newly founded NFL in 1982 (when we used to play football throughout the winter) against all expectations.

Paid peanuts and held together by a huge Scottish defender called Andy Stanton who worked as an advertising executive on week days, the Tovey brothers were integral in Barker’s plans. Sometimes they played one behind the other in central midfield, though both contributed goals. Neil could shoot from distance, Mark was the terrier mopping up. Both could play a mean through ball. A chap called Kevin Mudie got most of the goals.

City, with tiny crowds and no funds, went on to win a second successive title in 1983 before Barker led a mass-break-out to Umlazi’s gold-and-black Bush Bucks in 1984. Under the astute eye of Lawrence “Big Bear” Ngubane, the cunning mixture of City champions with talents like Daniel Ramarutsi and Mlungisi “Prof” Ngubane went on to win the championship in 1986.

By then, older brother Mark was the centre-back, Neil was more of a midfielder. He was tall and slight, and had followed Barker from local amateur club Juventus, based on Durban’s Berea.

But Neil emerged from the shadow of his big brother with aplomb in 1996, when he captained Barker’s Bafana to the African Nations Cup on home soil, a triumph rich in post-democratic fervour and Rainbow Nation unity. Now 34, Tovey was now a veteran, anchoring Kaizer Chiefs and the national squad from centre-back with the captain's armband now an immovable feature.

When he retired in 1999, aged 37, Tovey had played 341 games for Chiefs and 52 for Bafana Bafana. He smoothly transitioned to player-coach in the latter days of his playing career at Chiefs and went on to boss Mamelodi Sundowns, AmaZulu, Hellenic, Mpumalanga Black Aces and, most recently, Thanda Royal Zulu.

In 2011, when I was working in Abu Dhabi, I tried to get Tovey a job in the lucrative (but not particularly strong) United Arab Emirates Pro League, and after a recent health scare (he’s fully recovered) there were fears his greatest days were behind him.

But Saturday’s announcement of Tovey as South Africa’s new Technical Director came as a welcome relief. Since Ephraim Mashaba was handed the Bafana job nearly a year ago, Danny Jordaan had been promising a Technical Director to help Shakes, not known for his tactical acumen and clearly struggling to keep things together.

Tovey and Steve Komphela were the only qualified South Africans to do the job. Danny Jordaan and I agreed on that a year ago. But with Tovey doing television work and Komphela engrossed in pushing Maritzburg United to their highest PSL finish, movement was slow. SAFA’s technical committee chief Nataschia Tshiclas told me week after week: “We are still looking.” I waited week after week, month after month, for Tovey to ride to the rescue as Bafana struggled through AFCON and the COSAFA disaster... culminating in the awful 0-0 home draw against Gambia a fortnight ago.

With various foreign names bandied about, the appointment of Tovey – who scored top marks when taking both his UEFA A and Pro badges - is another welcome local appointment for South African football. I phoned him on Saturday during the Orlando Pirates game and he was quick to re-assure Mashaba: “I won’t be telling Shakes what to do. It’s going to be a tough job. I can't just go in there and tell people what to do.

“There are so many areas for me to look at, I don’t even know if I’ll be going to Mauritius for the second leg of the CHAN qualifier. I don't think that's a priority in my new role.

“I won’t be getting involved that much in the national side. That’s not the job. It’s my task to make things easier for Shakes. To work in the background, on development. My main task, as I see it, is to ensure younger players coming through to the national team.”

SAFA's R65m plan for a new Technical Centre south of Johannesburg will give Tovey a base for his empire; his grasp of modern UEFA techniques will soon begin to percolate through our game. As long as he can work with Mashaba, surely there's a long-awaited improvement on the cards for Bafana Bafana.

PITSO MOSIMANE NAILS IT: the full text of Mamelodi Sundowns coach's post-match interview. "Referee Thabo Nkosi stole the show"

Man of the match? Ref Thabo Nkosi

PITSO MOSIMANE was understandably upset after tonight's 1-1 draw against Mpumalanga Black Aces in Mbombela. The Mamelodi Sundowns coach, known for his post-match outbursts, was inconsolable after seeing his side denied a last-minute winner... and boy, did he let us know.

In a dramatic interview with SuperSport's ultra-professional Carol Tshabalala, Mosimane has probably landed himself in hot water with the PSL, but the man is nothing if not passionate. At one point in the interview, he simply couldn't talk as he choked up in fury over Bongani Zungu's "winner".

Though Pitso has a right to be furious - referee Thabo Nkosi had given the goal but changed his mind after seeing the linesman's flag - it did look like Zungu fouled goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane before scoring.

How they stand: the PSL table after draws for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns tonight

Having chased down Kaizer Chiefs last season to clinch a long-awaited league title for Masandawana, the former Bafana boss came close to conceding to the AmaKhosi, who play resurgent AmaZulu tomorrow night with a seven point lead.

And at one point, Pitso called for referee Thabo Nkosi to win the Man of the Match award and compared him to the controversial Victor "Penalty King" Gomes, who once awarded FIVE penalties in a Sundowns match.


On a night when Orlando Pirates came from behind THREE TIMES to draw 3-3 as Platinum Stars striker Mogakolodi Ngele scored a brilliant hat-trick, Sundowns certainly battled their hearts out... but will their two dropped points decide the title?

HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF PITSO MOSIMANE’S POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

PITSO: “It’s a game of two halves, first half, we let ourselves down by not picking up on the goal. I’m happy to be wrong, I think Dennis Onyango was fouled on the first goal… (stops, unable to carry on, overwhlemed by emotion)

CAROL: “I know it’s difficult to break it down without talking about the disappointment… looking at how they came out today, how do you think they can come back…?”

PITSO: “How do you motivate the players who work so hard, give their best, what do you say to them about all this?

“I think (referee) Thabo must be the man of the match, did very well, he stole the show, he reminds me of Gomes. He also steals the show. I don’t want to talk about Thabo's performance, he knows his performance.

“It’s unbelievable Carol. It’s unbelievable. You spend the whole year fighting to win the league and protect the league (title) but tonight, we’re asking for favours. It’s history for me how this title was won.

“But I have to accept. Because if I don’t accept they’re going to keep coming. The PSL’s going to come to me. And you know the story with Pitso. Check all the fines, all the fines received in the PSL, I’ve got the heaviest one but I’ve never been sent off."

CAROL: “But I’m concerned now. You’re saying it’s gone?”

PITSO: “I’m not saying it’s gone. Listen to me. If it’s gone, we’ll know how it is gone. Some of the things are not in your hands hey. What a change of decision there. Unbelievable. I saw the hand pointing the other way. It’s life, it’s football. Thabo stole the show.”

CAROL: “You feel as if the performance deserved three points?”

PITSO: “Before Mamelodi Sundowns won the league last year, it had been six, seven years, out of anything. We strengthened and we won the league last year. It’s going to be very difficult to win the league this year. But we will try our best.

“I don’t know what I’m going to say to the players, try hard or what? We pray for a miracle? It’s okay Carol. You know what’s hard? I work so hard eh, then somebody just takes it away.”

From the bottom to the top: Craig Rosslee explains his 10-month revolution at AmaZulu

Leader of the green revolution: Craig Rosslee

Explain this: Ten months ago, AmaZulu were marooned at the bottom of the PSL. Today, they are level on points at the top of South African fooball.

It’s the kind of turnaround which creates legends in Europe. But in South Africa, AmaZulu’s rise from the ashes has gone almost unnoticed.

The key to the AmaZulu revolution is the coach Craig Rosslee, a former Hellenic, Santos and Cape Town Spurs defender who went on to coach Ajax Cape Town and played a major part in Orlando Pirates first treble as assistant to Ruud Krol in 2009/2010.

When Rosslee took over AmaZulu in November last year, the famous cries of Usuthu! were muted. The club had managed just nine points from 12 games under Swedish boss Roger Palmgren and they trailed behind Chippa United and Leopards, the clubs destined for relegation. Under Rosslee, they took 20 points from their remaining 18 games to secure safety in 12^th position.

This season they have 11 points from their first five games and share the top of the PSL with SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows.

Rosslee, also an accomplished television analyst, told me on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on Ballz visual radio (see video at the foot of this story): “Ten months! Obviously my first task was to keep the club up last season. We had nine points when I arrived, we got clear of relegation, we ended safely in mid-table.

“At the end of the season we decided to make some changes. We shipped out 17 players, brought in 15. We only kept a handful of the old players.

“At this point in time it’s a work in progress. The aim is to get the players to gel, to get them playing together. It’s coming along nicely now. We’re doing it in a very professional way, we have character, guys who do the work. That’s what we’re looking for.

“If this squad can apply themselves, both on and off the field, I see a great future for the club.”

In charge of one of South Africa’s oldest clubs (founded in 1932 only Wits University (1921) is older), Rosslee grins: “Remember I played for AmaZulu, like you I remember the Joel Fayas. This job is more about what I can give back than what I can take from this club.

“The Royal Family back us, the people look to us. Things stagnated. South African football in general has to find a way to move forward, and we have a duty to encourage development too.

“We’re lacking goals in this country. How do we address that? I’m happy to work on that generally, with all the other clubs.

“We have to find goals. Look at Gavin Hunt at Wits. He’s spoiled for choice up front but still doesn’t get them. How do we get players to score goals?

Hot shot: Ayanda Dlamini

“I need strikers who can score more than five goals a season. I have to get goals from other positions too if we’re not going to get 15 or 20 goals out of a striker. We need wide men to can put the ball in the right place.

“Apart from Bongani Ndulula, our predominant target man is Ayanda Dlamini, he took a while to get on centre stage, he’s 28 now. But he’s getting the goals that get us out of trouble. He’s a fantastic finisher.

“You have to work with the strikers, get them to hit the target, hit the target. Because often that’s not done at the development stage you know.

“The fact of the matter is we’ve still got to work on these lads, get them to develop their skills while they’re playing at the top level of football in South Africa.”

With a near-fullhouse at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban on Saturday to witness Platinum Stars’ surprise penalty shoot-out MTN8 final win over Orlando Pirates, Rosslee believes a successful AmaZulu can awake the dormant fans in the port city.

He insists: “I would love to see the stadium full for games against all sides in the PSL. I believe if we play the right brand of football we can do that. That needs to be reflected across the country. Play attacking football and the fans will come.”

BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 10am-noon. See the Ballz channel on Youtube for our growing collection of interviews like the one above.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za.

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice!

Roger and OUT: why Palmgren had to part ways with AmaZulu

Swede dreams: Roger Palmgren

AMAZULU reacted swiftly to their weekend plunge back to the foot of the PSL – by finally sacking Swedish head coach Roger Palmgren.

The final straw came on Sunday, when Mamelodi Sundowns finally registered their second win of the season to creep off the bottom, courtesy of a 1-0 win at Bloemfontein Celtic.

AmaZulu went down 1-0 to Free State Stars at the Moses Mabhida and despite a recent resurgence of sorts – they stand 11^th in the Q2 table with a win over AmaTuks and a draw against Sundowns last week – management was forced to act.

Usuthu General Manager Peter O’Connor said on the club website: “We met with Roger and advised him that his services have been terminated with immediate effect and informed the players and the technical team of what has happened.

“Fani Madida will be caretaker coach until we have announced the new coach which will hopefully be will soon.”

Under the Swede this season, AmaZulu recorded two League wins - but one of them came while Palmgren was on leave attending a family bereavement in Sweden.

Palmgren’s career has been largely African based with his spells in charge of the Sierra Leone national side dominating a CV which also features the DR Congo and Rwanda before he arrived in South Africa in 2009 to take over at Thanda Royal Zulu.

Palmgren told www.soccerladuma.co.za yesterday: “I’ve been replaced, some changes had to be made. I’m quite disappointed, we had a record season last season but this season I didn’t get the players I wanted.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and we’ve produced a lot of talent. This season didn’t go well from the start, but that’s football.”

Madida will probably be in charge for the December 5 clash at Leopards as AmaZulu attempt to improve on a record of 12 games, two wins, three draws and seven defeats.

Despite last Wednesday’s draw at Sundowns, Palmgren – who still boasts Bafana’s veteran AFCON  winning coach Clive Barker on his staff – must have known it was only a matter of time before AmaZulu did what rock-bottom QPR did to Mark Hughes in the English Premier League last week.

Palmgren is not the winner of the PSL sack race this season – he trails in a distant sixth behind  Maarten Stekelenberg (Ajax Cape Town), Roger Sikhakane and Mngqithi (both Chippa United), Muhsin Ertugral (Golden Arrows) and Augusto Palacios (Orlando Pirates).

This story also appears with my regular Tuesday Neal & Pray column in www.thenewage.co.za tomorrow.

The PSL Q2 table appears below:

1 Orlando Pirates    4..4..0..0..10..1..12
2 Mburg United       4..3..1..0..6..2..10 
3 Kaizer Chiefs        4..3..0..1..8..5..9
4 Plat Stars                4..3..0..1..6..3..9
5 FS Stars                  4..2..1..1..3..2..7 
6 Bloem Celtic          4..2..0..2..3..3..6
7 Leopards                 4..2..0..2..3..6..6 
8 Chippa Utd            4..1..2..1..7..6..5
9 Sundowns              4..1..2..1..4..5..5
10 Ajax CT                 4..1..1..2..4..5..4
11 Amazulu                4..1..1..2..2..3..4
12 Wits                        4..1..1..2..3..5..4
13 SuperSport U       4..0..3..1..5..6..3 
14 AmaTuks               4..0..2..2..2..4..2 
15 Swallows                4..0..1..3..4..9..1 
16 Arrows                    4..0..1..3..2..7..1 

By popular demand: the PSL Q2 table. And yes, Pirates are top, Arrows are bottom.

This is how the PSL Q2 table looks four games in, halfway to the second R2.5m bonus of the season:

1 Orlando Pirates    4..4..0..0..10..1..12
2 Mburg United       4..3..1..0..6..2..10 
3 Kaizer Chiefs        4..3..0..1..8..5..9 
4 Plat Stars                4..3..0..1..6..3..9
5 FS Stars                  4..2..1..1..3..2..7 
6 Bloem Celtic          4..2..0..2..3..3..6
7 Leopards                 4..2..0..2..3..6..6 
8 Chippa Utd            4..1..2..1..7..6..5 
9 Sundowns              4..1..2..1..4..5..5
10 Ajax CT                 4..1..1..2..4..5..4
11 Amazulu                4..1..1..2..2..3..4
12 Wits                        4..1..1..2..3..5..4
13 SuperSport U       4..0..3..1..5..6..3 
14 AmaTuks               4..0..2..2..2..4..2 
15 Swallows                4..0..1..3..4..9..1 
16 Arrows                    4..0..1..3..2..7..1 

Stekelenburg axed by Ajax in a week that was always going to be full of Double Dutch

Dutch too much: Maarten Stekelenburg is gone

MAARTEN STEKELENBURG’S umimpressive reign as head coach of Ajax Cape Town came to a grinding halt yesterday in what has been a distinctly dodgy week for Dutchmen in the PSL.

Even before compatriot Johan Neeskens was subjected to violent vuvuzelas after his Mamelodi Sundowns lost at Moroka Swallows on Sunday, Stekelenburg was vividly vilified by Urban Warriors fans in Cape Town on Saturday following a shocking 5-1 defeat at the hands of promoted AmaTuks. It was always going to be a week of Double Dutch.

Ajax CEO George Comitis told us on Saturday night: “We need cool heads, this is not a time to panic,” but he had changed his tune yesterday, telling the pen-wielding crowd assembled for Stekelenburg’s public execution: "As of today, Maarten is no longer our head coach. Sometimes you have to shake it all up. We needed to change before it was too late.

“It was a tough decision that we made over the past 19 games, we will find ourselves in trouble if we don't fix it now. We haven't decided on his replacement yet, we will look for someone with Dutch influence and SA experience."

Former Sundowns boss Hristo Stoichkov, Dutchman Ruud Krol and 1996 Afcon winner Neil Tovey are possible names to conjure with but the mother club in Amsterdam may have another obscure youngster or ailing veteran in mind.

Stekelenburg has struggled since he stepped in to the sizeable shoes of Foppe de Haan in 2011, a fact confirmed by Comitis, who said hopefully: "We would look at bringing back someone like Foppe, but we have no decision yet."

Former Head of Technical affairs and current chief scout, Jan Pruijn, get his chance to impress when he takes charge as caretaker against rock-bottom AmaZulu on Saturday. Wilfred Mugeyi will assist against the only side below Ajax in the current PSL standings.

Stekelenburg, just 39, was always a gamble. Cape Town was his first senior coaching post after an unremarkable playing career with  Dutch lower league sides SV Argon, SV Huizen and Amsterdamsche FC were followed by numerous coaching qualifications, a job at the Ajax academy in Amsterdam and a stint as De Haan’s youth development manager in the Mother City.

Comitis admitted: "Maarten lost the belief of the board. We believe were we need a more experienced coach because he is dealing with more experienced players. We have a three-year plan with the current squad.”

Exactly what that plan is remains unclear. In six games this season they had won once before Saturday’s Aubrey Ngoma-inspired hammering.

Neeskens, attacked at Dobsonville on Sunday, remains in place before Saturday night’s win-or-flee clash with Platinum Stars at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. General manager Kenneth Makhanya and Technical Head Trott Moloto issued a joint statement on the Sundowns website yesterday saying: "The issue of the coach's position with the club is hypothetical as it has never been discussed.

"Sundowns wishes to record that reports that he is facing the chop are without foundation, and management has given the coach full support to pursue the objectives of the club.

"No ultimatum has been given to the coach, or anybody, and Mamelodi Sundowns is confident that the club will turn the corner. Clubs the world over go through rough patches, but come out much stronger.”

DON'T PANIC: Bobby's message to the AmaKhosi as the PSL kick-off looms

Sorry performance: Itumeleng Khune apologised to AmaKhosi

THE BIG PSL kick-off looms, and nowhere will pre-season nerves be jangling more than in the big, shiny dressing room for the away team at the fabulous Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

That’s where Kaizer Chiefs and their bruised egos will be sat, their pre-match preparation dominated by memories of last Sunday at a packed Loftus Versfeld, where Mamelodi Sundowns – four goals to the good after just 37 minutes - crushed the mighty AmaKhosi 4-1 in the most one-sided of the MTN8 quarter-finals last weekend.

With DON’T PANIC signs plastered on every furrowed forehead, who will be most worried? Stuart Baxter, the new coach, who is under pressure before the league has even started? Captain Itumeleng Khune, whose amazing on-field rant featured so prominently on our television screens? Zimbabwean defender Lincoln Zvasiya, so clearly out of his depth at right-back last Sunday?

Nope. I reckon it’s Bobby Motaung who will be on the verge of a nervous breakdown come 6pm on Saturday. The son of club founder Kaizer, general manager Bobby has grown up with black-and-gold teddy bears, Chiefs replica shirts and AmaKhosi adulation all his life.

Now, the man who said just last season he would never need to worry about his future employment with “the family business” finds the side he assembled for Baxter is being roundly lambasted by football pundits, rivals – and even the estimated 15 million AmaKhosi.

On Monday, as the shock waves of that Sundowns defeat were still reverberating around the nation, Bobby told SuperSport: "It’s understandable our army of supporters are feeling some pain. Losing is one thing. But conceding four goals in little more than the opening 30 minutes is something else.

“It was hard to believe - we thought we had all the bases covered. But we're all only human and capable of having an off-day. I don't think there is any cause to panic.

"But remember, we would have beaten Orlando Pirates the week before had we not conceded a careless injury-time goal. I believe the hiccups will be eliminated.”

Hiccups? With a back-four now featuring newly-signed international defenders Sibonso Gaxa, Tower Mathoho and Morgan Gould, Khune was forced to deliver a grovelling apology to fans on the official Kaizer Chiefs website which included the immortal line: “The players are as humiliated as the fans by this result.”

And of course, the smooth-talking, CV-massaging Englishman Baxter issued the standard: “The players will bounce back. I know it is a big task, but they will.”

Beset by some nasty pre-season injuries – talismanic Siphiwe Tshabalala was forced to watch last week’s debacle from the packed stands – neither Baxter, Bobby nor Khune have explained exactly how they plan to turn things around with re-signed Siyabonga Nkosi looking erm... resigned to allowing Teko Modise to walk all over him last week.

Still, it’s only AmaZulu. They were crushed 2-0 by Moroka Swallows in the MTN8 and offer Chiefs the perfect chance for immediate redemption.

At Chloorkop, the issues are reversed. Sundowns now have a problem keeping great expectations in check as they prepare to play newly-promoted Chippa United in Atteridgeville.

But their boss Johan Neeskens is happy to put everything on the line, insisting: "I always put myself under pressure, I want to win something this year, if not, if I don't win anything or do well maybe I must step down because I think it is time that we win something."

Now there’s a man who puts his future where his mouth is. With double-treble winners Orlando Pirates looking formidable and Wits signing a host of top names, we’re in for a fascinating championship.

My predictions for week one of the PSL:

Friday (8pm):

Orlando Stadium: Orlando Pirates 3, Golden Arrows 1

Cape Town Stadium: Ajax Cape Town 1, SuperSport United 1

Saturday (3pm):

Peter Mokabe Stadium: Black Leopards 0, Bloemfontein Celtic 0

Goble Park: Free State Stars 0, Bidvest Wits 2

Moses Mabhida Stadium (6pm):  AmaZulu 0, Kaizer Chiefs 1

Lucas Moripe Stadium: (8.15pm): Mamelodi Sundowns 3, Chippa United     0

Sunday (3pm):

Tuks Stadium: AmaTuks 1, Maritzburg Utd 1

Royal Bafokeng Palace: Platinum Stars 0, Moroka Swallows 1