02 December 2019, by: Thabang Kgeledi

PSL Talking Points – Matchday 13

The big boys were out of PSL action this weekend but there were still more than enough matches to fill up our weekly talking points.

As usual, we have got your PSL matchday 13 talking points right here.

“I don’t know of any coach who has gone into the changeroom and taken off his hat and pulled a rabbit out of it. Coaches are not magicians,” said Cape Town City’s new Dutch coach Jan Olde Riekerink after his team’s 0-0 draw with Highlands Park over the weekend. He may not be a David Blaine but he better be ready to perform a Moses-type miracle to get this team out of the slump they are in.

City’s bad form stretches back to last season. They have only won four of their last 23 games. Even with Kermit Erasmus, one of South Africa’s best forwards, they can’t seem to find the back of the net. They averaging 1.3 goals per game in their last 10 matches. It’s no time to panic. This is only Jan Olde Riekerink second game. It takes about five games for players to understand a new coach’s tactics, and ten to apply them well.

Polokwane City lost again over the weekend. This time by a solitary goal to Bloemfontein Celtic. City have lost nine of their 10 games in all competitions. If they weren’t worried before, I think this may be the right to time to fret. They started the season off well, collecting 10 out of a possible 15 points in their first five matches. They even got to the semi-finals on the MTN 8 cup. I even said they had an opportunity to pull off a Leicester City.

Boy was I wrong.

Now Polokwane City are playing the worst football in the league. Their defence is shoddy and their attack lacks confidence. If things continue in this vein, they are certainly going to be in the relegation conversation come April and May.

I’ve been an advocate of the relegation of Chippa United for the past couple of months and for good reason. Their team is quite bad and their chairman Chippa Mpengesi is trigger happy. He fires coaches for sneezing too loudly in his presence. One of the many coaches to feel the wrath of Mpengesi was Clinton Larsen. He got fired earlier this season and was replaced by Norman Mapeza.

At the time of the appointment, I thought Mpengesi hired a coach nobody knew to save money for his impending relegation. However, under Mapeza Chippa United have played well. Before drawing with fellow strugglers on Sunday, they had been a two-game winning streak. They hadn’t won a couple of games in a row since May.

The draw against Baroka was disappointing, however things are looking up for the team from the Eastern Cape. They are still at the bottom of the log but Mapenza may be on to something we’ll just have wait and see.

Black Leopards hired Luc Eymael on 26 September in the hopes that the former the Free State Stars coach could plug the holes of their sinking ship. Leopards began the season in relegation type form. Losing three, drawing two, and winning one of their opening six games. Chairman David Thidiela had seen enough, he fired Lionel Soccoia for the Belgian coach.

Luc Eymael has picked up 10 from a possible 18 points from his first six games in charge, his only losses came against champions Mamelodi Sundowns and a resurgent Chippa United. Their win over Golden Arrows on Saturday has put them in ninth spot, three points above of the relegation zone.

As much as I would love to watch Maritzburg and Amazulu play on a dilapidated pitch in an empty stadium, I’d also like to watch at least one of South Africa’s big three play (Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, and Kaizer Chiefs). Downs had commitments in Africa but the two Soweto giants were not scheduled to play any football this weekend. These three teams are the ones South Africans want to watch the most because they have most supporters.

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