Chiefs on a high, Pirates at a low: but don't be fooled by pre-season friendlies

Inside Knowledge: Musona scored on Sunday and
has shrugged off injury concerns as "cramp"

ON the face of it the South African domestic football season got off to very different starts for the two Soweto giants over the weekend.

At Orlando on Friday night, the Pirates were unable to breach the spotty Leopards defence in a disappointing 0-0 draw which saw new striker Lennox Bacela fail to score against the very ordinary Congo champions.

At Loftus Versfeld on Sunday, Kaizer Chiefs lifted the Gauteng Cup with a rip-roaring 4-1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic – and Knowledge Musona scored the third on his return to the club on loan.

The social networks made a meal of football’s long-awaited return. Roger de Sa was widely lampooned as a coach in crisis after his too-little-too-late decision to resort to two strikers as the Buccaneers desperately attempted to get their African Champions League Group A challenge off to a winning start.

But Stuart Baxter, after a first season which saw the AmaKhosi lift the PSL and Nedbank Cup double, could do no wrong as his side demolished Siwelele – Willard Katsande scored with a curling cross and even rarely-glimpsed Kaizer Motaung Junior slipped on to the score sheet at Loftus.

De Sa was left desperately defending his decision to put the unloved Ndumiso Mabena on ahead of Zambia’s blockbusting Collins Mbesuma late on Friday night. I texted Roger just after half-time suggesting he should go with two up front, calling for my namesake to add firepower.

Instead, we got Mabena amid widespread twitter fury with De Sa explaining: “Mabena is in much better shape. Collins was off with Zambia’s national team so he got to our pre-season training later than the rest. He’s not a small guy; he carries a lot of wait.

“He could only play a half in our friendly in Lesotho. He was poor, he was out of touch – no disrespect to him but we tried again during training last week and we have to select on what we see there.

 “Mabena and Bacela were the two strikers we went with because of what we saw in training. I couldn’t pick Mbesuma simply because he scored 20 goals five years ago!”

On the result itself, De Sa lamented: “We created plenty of chances, I’m happy with that, but we are disappointed, we deserved a win after that second half.”

Baxter, on the other hand, was glowing: “Considering it’s so early in the season, I thought we were excellent at times. It was a decent performance, we worked hard.

“I was particularly pleased to see Morgan Gould play like that – he’s only about 75 percent fit. He's had two one hour spells in the practice games that we played. It was a good work-out with the Carling Cup to come next weekend.”

Yes. The Carling Cup. That bizarre, glitzy friendly where the fans decide. Could be interesting.

Depressed Pirates fans should consider this: they made the Congo champions look very ordinary and with Group A’s Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek playing at a neutral Red Sea resort on Wednesday, their Champions League campaign is far from over.

For celebrating Chiefs fans, perspective is needed. The Gauteng Cup – like he Carling Cup – is a mere pre-season detail.

These early warning shots are not decisive. A long season lies ahead. Wits and SuperSport United are building furiously. Let’s not judge anything – or anyone – just yet.

KNOWLEDGE MUSONA was carried off on a stretcher during his goal-scoring debut on Sunday but he confirms: "It was nothing, just cramp. I'll be fine - but I do need to work on my sharpnessl.

"The fans were awesome, it' great to be back."

"I thought we played really well for a pre-season game but we have plenty of work left to do/"

You can listen to BOLLOCKS! every Thursday, 10am-noon on www.ballz.co.za or read "Neal and Pray" every Tuesday in The New Age.

You should also click on BOLLOCKZ! sponsors www.topodds.com for our latest chat about sports betting or follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol

Hail of fame: Baxter's AmaKhosi ready to ride the storm

Hail the Chiefs: fans face charges for ice dancing

ABANDONED. It’s not the most cheerful word in the English language. It brings to mind tiny lifeboats lost in a stormy sea, babies left in hospital doorways.

And it’s not the happiest word in football either – especially if you’re a Kaizer Chiefs fan waiting for Wednesday night’s replay of their abandoned PSL clash with Leopards at Soccer City (kick-off 7.30pm, live on SuperSport4).

Oh, how the AmaKhosi will suffer if they don’t claim all three points. There they were, cruising at 2-0 after 34 minutes on Saturday night, when the early-summer Highveld storm hit Johannesburg. One minute Chiefs were stroking the ball around a green sward, the next hail had turned the pitch in to a winter wonderland.

The ice had barely melted by the time Stuart Baxter came out on the club’s official website insisting: “We will show the same winning intent.”

But there was no question of play continuing on Saturday when the clouds broke. Daniel Bennett, the nation’s top referee, led the charge to the sanctuary of the dressing rooms, declaring the surface unfit and potentially dangerous.

As unruly fans drew an unnecessary PSL disciplinary charge for larking about in the ice, match commissioner Stan Swart was a crest-fallen man. He said: “We tried clearing the lines but that didn’t work. Then we tried to get the pitch remarked but it was too wet. We had no choice but to ask the teams to replay the game.”

And of course, under SAFA law 8.14 – a rule followed in most FIFA nations – that means the match will be the full 90 minutes, started again at 0-0. Had they managed to get back on the pitch and finish the game on Saturday, they would have restarted from 2-0 up in the 35th minute. Bemused Kaizer Chiefs fans are furious.

A cunning Leopards sangoma may be cackling away hysterically somewhere up north, but in Soweto everybody wants to know what happens to the two marvellous goals scored by Bernard Parker and Kingston Nkhatha before the hail came down.

The sad truth is that Parker’s magnificent free-kick has now been scrubbed from the records. And ‘Cijimpi’ Nkhatha’s  second, neatly constructed, will not feature either.

Though television producers are free to screen Parker’s strike as a contender for Goal of the Month, it won’t count if Parker – who scored four against Amazulu in the opening game of the season and two for Bafana against Mozambique a week ago – is in the running for PSL top scorer.

So Chiefs have to do it all again on Wednesday, knowing the Orlando Pirates – under controversial new coach Roger De Sa – had seen off Platinum Stars 1-0 thanks to a disputed Andile Jali penalty and an early red card.

That puts Pirates level with Chiefs on seven points, one short of promoted shock-troops AmaTuks, Maritzburg United and Free State Stars. Moroka Swallows, after their shock loss against Pretoria’s Clever Boys on Friday night – are on six points with SuperSport United and Bloemfontein Celtic.

Hard as it is to find a positive side to this awful word abandoned, there is one consolation for deflated Chiefs fans. Eric “Tower” Mathoho may be available for the replay.

He was ruled out of Saturday night’s clash following the death of his uncle, David Galananzhele Mathoho, who passed away last Wednesday after a long illness. Mathoho was given permission by the club to attend the funeral.

Siphiwe Tshabalalala, rested after his Bafana duties against Brazil and Mozambique, could also be ready by Wednesday night.

A frustrated Baxter said on www.Kaizerchiefs.com: “It is difficult when a game is postponed and rescheduled - it changes our entire program - but as professionals we will have to prepare now for Wednesday. Leopards were always going to be tougher and they will not be different come Wednesday as for us we need to go out and finish the business.

“We would have loved to continue playing after the storm but then it was difficult to do so as the hail could not be removed without removing the lines.

“The players are obviously disappointed that the game was postponed but it was due to natural cause. I am confident that they will show the same intent on the pitch.”

As for Tshabalala and Mathoho, Baxter said: “We will make a decision this week but I was pleased with what I saw in the 30 minutes or so that we played and we will have to build on that.”

But anything less than victory on Wednesday will leave the Amakhosi with understandable feelings of injustice.

Abandoned: If Bernard Parker is upset, imagine how seven-goal Denis Law felt!

Winter wonderland: Soccer City on Saturday night after the hail storm

KAIZER CHIEFS fans are understandably annoyed about Saturday night's hail storm, which saw their game against Leopards abandoned after 34 minutes at Soccer City.

When referee Daniel Bennett took the players off, Chiefs were leading 2-0 with a superb free-kick from Bernard Parker followed by a neat strike from Kingston Nkhatha.

If the players had got back on the ground on Saturday night, the match would have resumed with Chiefs 2-0 up 10 minutes before half-time.

But because match commissioner Stan Swart was unable to clear the surface, they'll have to replay Leopards on Wednesday night at Soccer City, kick-off 8.15pm.

And under SAFA rule 8.14 they will start at 0-0, 90 minutes to play. While I suspect certain sangomas are cackling away happily up north, my Twitter (www.twitter.com/nealcol) and Facebook feeds have been awash with aggrieved AmaKhosi claiming this is unfair. And if have to agree.

But if Parker feels hard done by, consider the case of the great Denis Law on January 28, 1961.

Playing for Manchester City against Luton Town, the Scotland legend scored a record SIX goals in an FA Cup tie – but his performance (and the 6-2 scoreline) was rubbed from the record books when the game was abandoned after 69 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

On February 1 the game was replayed – and Luton won 3-1. The scorer that day? A very unhappy Denis Law!

The statisticians claim Law is the only man to score seven times and lose a game. They also point out that those six goals would have him the 20^th century’s leading FA Cup goal-scorer. Instead, that record went to Liverpool’s Ian Rush (44) with Law second on 41.

Read the full story of Kaizer Chiefs sense of abandonment in www.thenewage.co.za in my Neal & Pray column on Tuesday.

You can also see my assessment of the weekend's action in South Africa and abroad during Classic Play on eTV Sunrise, DSTV 134, tomorrow morning at 7.15am.

45 days: Chippa United set new record for shortest coaching reign

Chippa off the old block: Mpengesi appoints Mngqithi on July 9

Chippa United axed coach Manqoba Mngqithi just two games in to the new PSL season today, beating by ONE DAY the record held by Frenchman Jean Yves Kerjean, who was in charge of Black Leopards for just one League game in 2005.

After 180 minutes in the top flight,  a gutsy 1-0 defeat against big-spending Mamelodi Sundowns and an 87^th-minute 2-1 defeat against Free State Stars last night, Mngqithi prounounced himself satisfied with his promoted team. He said: "We stood our ground and were unfortunate to concede a late goal. I'm very optimistic and confident from what I've seen.”

Former Golden Arrows and AmaZulu coach Mngqithi, who surprisingly replaced promotion-clinching coach Roger Sikhakane on July 9, obviously hadn’t considered how his pointless efforts had gone down with controversial club founder Siviwe Mpengesi. And he was promptly sacked this afternoon with Chippa team manager Wanda Mbenguza saying: “We have agreed to part ways with the coach.”

Mpengesi said on Umhlobo FM tonight: "There was no direction, and the future wasn't bright so we decided to let him go while it is still early, before a lot of damage can happen.” 

Mpengesi, a 34-year-old former security guard from Ngqamakwe in the Eastern Cape, has turned Chippa Investment Holdings (who do everything from tree-felling to industrial waste, security to conract cleaning) in to a multi-million corporation since 2002 and his football team, as we now know, demands similar gut-busting success.

When Sikhakane achieved promotion after play-offs against Thanda Royal Zulu and Santos, Mpengesi famously said: "Roger is a coach who understands our team culture; I can't afford to have someone that will come with a different philosophy. I am happy with the coach and the technical team and that will remain the same with no changes.”

That was July 3. By July 9, Mngqiti was appointed with a flourish, saying: “I am excited about the new prospect. I did my own homework on Chippa. We will be aiming very high in the season.”

Now, 45 days later, Mngqiti is jobless. As far as I can tell, Kerjean was in charge of the Leopards from June 27 to August 12, 2005 before an opening 1-0 defeat against a 10-man Orlando Pirates – that’s 46 days. It appears we have a new record in South African football management.

But then what should we expect from a two-year-old club, still in nappies in footballing terms? The club was only founded in June 2010, when they bought out Mbekweni Cosmos, a Castle League franchise at the time.

In their first season, the Chilli Boys won the Western Cape Province section of the Vodacom League registering 26 victories, 5 draws and only 1 defeat. Then they cruised through the Vodacom Promotional Championship play-offs in June 2011 to qualify for the National First Division last season. At that point 

Then Sikhakane helped the club to finish in the play-off places in the NFD behind champions AmaTuks – and the rest is history.

My old pal from Umlazi Bush Bucks in the 1980s Mlungisi “Professor” Ngubane – currently in charge of Thanda Royal Zulu - is being touted as the next Chippa coach, though I would suggest former Moroka Swallows boss Ian Gorowa may also be a contender. The Prof took over from Chippa’s first coach Mike Lukhubeni before Sikhakane was installed at the start of 2012.

Either way, they shouldn’t expect much of a honeymoon from Mpengesi. Still, 44 days is not as bad as the world record for a football boss.

That’s held by Leroy Rosenior, who was in charge of England’s Torquay United for a grand total of TEN MINUTES in 2007. He was appointed just as a local consortium took over the club and named former Exeter City assistant manager Paul Buckle as their manager instead.