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| When will the Sun top going Down: Johan Neeskens |
If there’s one thing Mamelodi’s long-suffering fans deserve, it’s an explanation of the deepening gloom at Sundowns.
On Saturday at the Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, the most expensively assembled squad in the country slumped to yet another PSL defeat, this time a limp-wristed 1-0 surrender against Platinum Stars.
To their credit, after the attack on Johan Neeskens following the defeat at Moroka Swallows a week before, the fans took this one on the chin. Heavy security, one arrest and creeping fatalism appear to have calmed the Msandawana fans, once proud to follow South Africa’s answer to Brazil.
But they deserve an explanation for a run of eight games without a win since the streaky 1-0 victory over promoted Chippa United when they kicked off their PSL season on August 11.
In six league games since then, a strike force which includes some of the most expensive stars in the country has produced just two goals and a single point. They haven’t scored in 360 minutes of PSL action in a slide which sees only AmaZulu below the Brazilians in the table.
In the midst of all this, I met two men who know the inside story at Sundowns at a coffee shop not far from their Chloorkop training venue last week.
Though both could be considered to have their own agenda, the lurid tales of life under billionaire Patrice Motsepe made for a fascinating morning. Bank cards with R53million credit being used to buy drinks, Johan Cruyff’s academy being paid an annual R1million and meetings lasting deep in to the night, not all of them involving the unfortunate Neeskens.
Most worrying off all was the repeated claim that a “gang of former players and hangers-on” are constantly chipping away at the Dutch legend’s authority, talking to players behind his back, railing against a man who likes to be driven in the back seat by members of his highly-paid technical staff.
Two characters at the club like to involve themselves heavily in the transfer of players and the signing of contracts. They apparently feel foreign coaches don’t have a proper grip on their beloved club and believe Motsepe’s largesse should come their way rather disappearing off into a European bank account.
There were suggestions that a third man – a member of the Sundowns board with something of a track record – actually encourages fans to cause unrest and knows the individual who attacked Neeskens at Dobsonville.
I have names, but I won’t divulge them. Clearly such tales are nonsense, the fanciful imaginings of men with axes to grind. Possibly.
What can be said is this. General manager Kenneth Makhana has not be a great success, I have many twitterers calling for the return of his popular predecessor Natasha Tsichlas. The ever-growing technical team appear to be following their own agenda. The 30-strong squad is top heavy and over-burdened with midfielders and strikers.
Up front, Neeskens found himself greeted by a galaxy of stars after Trott Moloto’s busy off-season: somehow he managed to add the sought-after Edward Manqele and Eleazar Rodgers to a strike force which already included Emmanuel Baffour; Richard Tebogo Henyekane, Anthony Laffor, th nearly forgotten Kaltlego “Killer” Mphela and Nyasha Mushekwi, the Zimbabwean cup specialist who was denied a move to Furthe in the German Bundesliga.
Juggling with so many expensive acquisitions cannot have been easy for Neeskens, a man who has spent most of his career working as a No2 in highly-organised, cohesive structures.
There can be no question Neeskens has lost the dressing room. With Elias Pelembe given the weekend off for personal reasons at Atteridgeville on Saturday, Teko Modise looks to have lost the spark again, chances were missed, an acceptance of inferiority is creeping in.
And of course, Motsepe – a mining magnate with R23billion to play with – has problems underground of late. When he talks strikers, it has little to do with football these days.
He did find time to back Neeskens over the weekend. Before a “normal” meeting with the players, he announced: “Johan is a great coach. We’ve made it clear we believe in him, we support him.”
With the fans chanting for former Bafana boss Pitso Mosimane’s return, Motsepe added: “Our supporters must be educated. You win, lose or draw, you go through ups and downs. Those who threaten violence must not be allowed to enter our stadiums.”
So Neeskens is not under threat. And he’s not about to resign, despite the sharpening of vuvuzelas among some elements at the club. So there you are Sundowns fans, you have your explanation. But sadly, no solution.
Mamelodi Sundowns results this season:
| 06 Oct 2012 | PSL | Mamelodi Sundowns | 0–1 | Platinum Stars | Lucas Moripe Stadium | |
| 30 Sep 2012 | PSL | Moroka Swallows | 2–0 | Mamelodi Sundowns | Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium | |
| 26 Sep 2012 | PSL | Mamelodi Sundowns | 0–0 | SuperSport United | Lucas Moripe Stadium | |
| 15 Sep 2012 | PSL | Golden Arrows | 1–0 | Mamelodi Sundowns | Moses Mabhida Stadium | |
| 02 Sep 2012 | PSL | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–2 | Maritzburg Utd | Lucas Moripe Stadium | |
| 26 Aug 2012 | MTN8 | Moroka Swallows | 3–2 | Mamelodi Sundowns | Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium | |
| 22 Aug 2012 | PSL | Kaizer Chiefs | 2–1 | Mamelodi Sundowns | Soccer City Complex | |
| 18 Aug 2012 | MTN8 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 3–3 | Moroka Swallows | Lucas Moripe Stadium | |
| 11 Aug 2012 | PSL | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–0 | Chippa United | Lucas Moripe Stadium | |
| 05 Aug 2012 | MTN8 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 4–1 | Kaizer Chiefs | Loftus Stadium |
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