Pitso Mosimane post-match: after Sundowns semi-final defeat here's what he had to say

Under pressure: Pitso Mosimani

Less than six months after lifting the PSL title with Mamelodi Sundowns, coach Pitso Mosimane finds himself under fire following today's 1-0 TelkomKO semi-final defeat at Platinum Stars.

Pelted verybally and physically by KaboYellow fans after the game, the social networks erupted in scorn for the former Bafana Bafana boss. Some even suggested Masandawana only won the title last season because Kaizer Chiefs collapsed, saying they have been "lacklustre" throughout Pitso's reign.

Nobody can possibly agree with that. Any Arsenal (or AmaZulu) fan will tell you a championship is a magnificent achievement, anywhere, anyhow. And they can be as rare as a snow storm in the Sahara.

Pitso knows former Sundowns star Dove Wome is scoring for SuperSport, who reached the final with a 2-0 win over grieving Orlando Pirates on Saturday night. And he knows he is weighed down by the expectation which accompanies a club backed by biollionaire Patrice Motsepe.

But with SIX of our 17 PSL coaches already gone this season, would you REALLY get rid of the championship coach less than a third of the way through the season? Without further comment, here's what Pitso said after the game today. Judge for yourself whether he deserves the boot. I know what I think:


Difficult times, ey?

Our game-plan first half was good, I think it was perfect, we had movement, passing the ball well, chances being created, and - again - chances were not taken.

One chance ey? They came once. One chance and they score. I mean, there's nothing else that I can say really. These guys were coming to score and that was that. The game of football, they suck you in, one chance, one break, one mistake. When people suck you in, that's the problem.

It was a tactical mistake at the back between my two centre-backs. Against Pirates we had the same thing on the same side when Kermit Erasmus scored … and I addressed it, we worked on it, and it went well in all the other games since.

Again today... it pops up, I think my right centre-back could have covered my left centre-back, he was a little too far from him, and you lose a game like this ey? It's only that, nothing else, nothing else.

At the end of the day it's all on the coach. I discussed it, I spoke, we discussed it, we have done it, we have covered it … it happens again.

But I'm the coach, I take responsibility, it's my team … it means I'm not trying harder for them to do it more, but it's sad, the game of football goes like this. 

But I have to pep them up now, it's terrible hey, it's very sad... but it's okay.

Amazing Grace comes crashing back to earth in the desert

BRANDEN GRACE came back to earth with a bump in the desert yesterday, finishing day one of the first big tournament of the season a distant eight shots behind joint leaders Robert Karlsson of Sweden and world No3 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

After winning twice on the European Tour on home soil in South Africa, the 23-year-old sensation could only manage a 75 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi champions.

With the big guns back in action, Grace was hoping to match the late, great Seve Ballesteros with a third successive victory in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when the fourth round draws to a conclusion on Sunday night.

Grace won the year’s second tournament – the Johannesburg Open – and last week held off his heroes Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a play-off to win the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt Links near his home town, George. He became the first professional since Fred Couples to win immediately after his debut tour triumph.

Before teeing off against world No1 Luke Donald (71), reviving superstar Tiger Woods (70) and the irrepressible US Open champion McIlroy (67), Grace said: "I just hope my game stays the way it is and my energy levels stay up.

"I've just been running with emotion. I'll keep playing and keep playing until I'm exhausted and until I find it's time to take a break."

But the Buffelsbaai pro struggled on the lush green oasis of the Abu Dhabi golf club, and is unlikely to feature among the leaders on Sunday night.

A third successive win was achieved by German Martin Kaymer two years ago – but his victories were not in consecutive weeks. The last to win three times in successive weeks on the European Tour was super Spaniard Ballesteros in 1986 at the Irish, Monte Carlo and French Opens.

Just a month after coming through the Tour qualifying school in Spain, Pretoria-born Grace has those two victories under his belt and after climbing 166 positions in the world rankings, he said: “Getting into the top 50, I think that is every player's goal. That would put me in the US Masters and to get into a Major would be an unbelievable year.

“If I could achieve that to get into the Masters, it would just be a highlight, indescribable.”

“I know for a fact I'll definitely take it easy the next couple of days, go out and play the Pro-Am in Abu Dhabi and take it from there.”

Grace, after three events of the 2012 season, still leads the Race to Dubai moneylist with R5.8 million in earnings, a fairy-tale start to the season.

“I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. I've always looked forward to playing in big tournaments. So I'm going back and making new goals and taking it from there.”

That round of 75 left him in joint 102nd place in a field of 129. He double bogeyed the par four fifth and turned in 38 and came through the second nine just one over regulation. But the man now ranked 92 in the world was two shots clear of Kaymer, the world No4 who also suffered a horrific opening day in the desert.

And he was doing slightly better than the home favourites. Ahmed Al Musharrekh, the only Emirati in the field, carded a nine over par 81 while Stuart Fee, the top local professional qualifier, produced an awful 15-over 87. The pair fill the 128th and 129th positions on the leaderboard going in to the second round.

Keep track of Grace's progress in the desert... and all the rest of the sport with me in South Africa's new tabloid Scoop! on Sunday... available at all reputable street corners and outlets in Gauteng and KZN. See also www.scoopnews.co.za