Wits seek ‘sensible deals’
On-loan duo to return after Downs ask huge amount
NEW Absa Premiership champions Bidvest Wits will lose on-loan players Mogakolodi Ngele and Cuthbert Malajila back to Mamelodi Sundowns‚ coach Gavin Hunt has said‚ revealing the Brazilians asked for “double figure”-million prices to buy the duo.
Hunt said Wits would make every effort to retain the core of their championship squad for next season‚ with most players tied up in contracts.
He said that with the South African market overpriced‚ Wits would again look for players on free transfers‚ and cast their net outside the country for signings.
On Malajila and Ngele‚ who Sundowns have said they will bring back to Chloorkop‚ Hunt said: “The players are going back. Sundowns want double figures [in millions] for them.
“At this point, they don’t want to go back, but they’ll go back. They have a contract and that was part of the deal.”
Hunt said Wits would continue looking for sensible deals in the off-season.
“We’re going to lose a few more players. There are a few going already.
“And it is a problem‚ because if you look at the local market‚ and as I said to somebody yesterday‚ ‘if you give somebody R100-mil- lion‚ who are you going to buy in South Africa?’ Because you don’t want to pay prices like that‚ and spend ridiculous money on players. And we don’t do that.
“So, it’s very difficult to acquire players. We have to look‚ like we do‚ in the free market and try and build up the right players.
“But it doesn’t always work. And you’re fortunate to get one or two‚ like we did.
“There are a lot of teams who I think need rebuilding in South Africa‚ and where are they going to get players from, if you look around the league?
“So, we have three or four candidates who we have really tried to get. We’ve been work- ing on that for the last month or so. But it’s not really happening at this stage.”
Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs have themselves to blame for failing to turn losses into draws and draws into wins‚ amounting to 18 points‚ coach Steve Komphela said after his team finished fourth in the Premiership.
Chiefs improved on their fifth-placed finish last season as Gustavo Paez’s 92ndminute strike in Amakhosi’s final game earned them a 1-0 win against a flat Bidvest Wits‚ already crowned champions a week earlier‚ at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
With SuperSport United losing 1-0 at home to Platinum Stars‚ Chiefs moved from fifth to a fourth-place finish.
Chiefs’ struggles in the first half of the season cost them running a title challenge closer‚ even if they mounted a 12-match unbeaten run in the second half of the season.
Komphela‚ too‚ rued Chiefs’ slipping up in crucial games. Notably‚ Amakhosi suffered two draws and a defeat in three successive games, conceding goals after the 90th minute against Cape Town City‚ SuperSport United and Lamontville Golden Arrows – crippling results that were part of a fivematch winless run in their last six games.
The season was Komphela’s second without a trophy at Amakhosi.
“Wrapping up the season‚ I thought we have ourselves to blame,” he said.
“But there were stages [of the season] where I felt our players played a good game. The goals we scored were also beautiful.”
Chiefs ended on 50 points with 13 wins‚ 11 draws and six defeats in the PSL.
They exited the opening round of the MTN8 with a 1-0 loss to Cape Town City‚ on penalties to Free State Stars in the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout‚ and on penalties to SuperSport United in the Nedbank Cup quarters. – TMG Digital