No Tower. No Major. Let's hope Gordon Igesund hasn't made his first mistake as Bafana coach

Major mistake: Lehlohonolo Major is in fine form

WHEN Bafana Bafana entertain the reigning African champions Zambia on Wednesday night in honour of Nelson Mandela at Soccer City, two of the nation’s form players will be watching the game on the television.

Despite Gordon Igesund’s insistence that he would be “picking players who are doing well for their clubs” the two men who have kept Kaizer Chiefs at the top of the Professional Soccer League table do NOT feature in his squad for the Nelson Mandela Challenge this week.

Mulomowandau Mathoho and Lehlohonolo Majoro – perhaps better known as the Tower and the Major – have been the driving force behind the AmaKhosi’s hugely popular ascent to the top of the local tree. While Igesund spent last week visiting Everton’s Steven Pienaar and Norwich City’s Andrew Surman, Mathoho was a Tower of strength in Chiefs’ wins over Golden Arrows and SuperSport United.

Lest we forget, Bernard Parker scored all the Chiefs goals early on – including a remarkable four against AmaZulu – to force his way in to Gordon’s squad. But with Kingston Nkatha also weighing in up front, Majoro - despite his new, boring hairstyle - is currently the nation’s form goal-getter with five goals in four games. He now trails Parker by one, with six PSL strikes.

And at the back, it is Mathoho – along with Igesund’s favourite goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune – who has ensured the AmaKhosi have conceded a league-leading five goals in 11 games.

Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter, looking more comfortable by the week, said after Majoro had scored both goals in the 2-1 win over previously unbeaten SuperSport United, said: “Major dares me to leave him out of the starting line-up. He trains well and he looks so threatening. I have to pick him.”

And Mathoho, man of the match in the midweek 3-0 win over Golden Arrows, was overlooked yesterday when Igesund decided to call up team-mate Siboniso Gaxa to replace the injured Siya Sangweni in central defence.

Gaxa, like fellow squad members Anele Ngcongca (Racing Club Genk, Belgium), Ricardo Nunes (MSK Zilina), Punch Masenamela (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Thabo Nthethe (Bloemfontein Celtic) is more of a full-back than a central defender. Which leaves us with SuperSport United's Bevan Fransman to fill the a hole and stifle Zambia's big Pirate, Collins Mbesuma.

Thus far, Igesund has used Orlando Pirate Sangweni at centre-back next to captain Bongani Khumalo, currently strutting his stuff for PAOK in Greece. Given Sangweni’s knee injury, the failure to call up Tower is probably even more startling than the decision to overlook Majoro for his team-mate Parker, Tokelo Rantie, Katlego Mashego and Kermit Erasmus up front.

After his strirring efforts last week, Tower grinned: “Credit should go to each and every one in the team. I do not do it alone; we win as a team.

“We need to make sure that we follow our game plan. Winning can be a habit.”

It’s a habit Gordon MUST have by the time AFCON 2013 kicks off at the same Soccer City venue on January 19 against Cape Verde Islands. Still, Igesund does have another form player to turn to. Sifiso Myeni continues to impress in Orlando, scoring the only goal against Steve Komphela’s men on Saturday to put the Pirates second in the PSL.

Coach Roger de Sa, another boss who appears to be enjoying himself lately, said of the youngster he first groomed at Wits: “Sifiso? I’m delighted. With his form and his goal-scoring ability. I know him pretty well and he is playing with a lot of confidence.

“At the moment he is carrying us.”

Hopefully he will carry Gordon’s Bafana on Wednesday night too. But you can’t help thinking the Tower and the Major would have made his task that much easier. 

Gordon spent today's press conferences and media chats outlining his successes and failures on the whistle-stop tour of the UK last week.

He told us he talked to Norwich City's South African-born Andrew Surman and explained: "He didn't seem interested, so I left it at that."

And Igesund went to great lengths to insist he "only went for a cup of coffee" with Steven Pienaar, who announced his international retirement last month. Gordon repeatedly stressed: "The subject of Bafana didn't come up. I wasn't there to beg him to change his mind. He's a man. It was a tough decision. We have to respect that.

"I spoke to Steve about his family - there was some good news about his wife - and I discussed football with him and his coach, David Moyes. Stevie said how much he was enjoying his football. But he says because of the condition of his groin, he can only train twice a week and needs a day to recover afterwards.

Steven Pienaar has been a great ambassador for this country for ten years. He deserves recognition for that. That's why I saw him. Not to make him change his mind. We just had a cup of coffee, that's all. He talked about the differences between Spurs and Everton, stuff like that.

"Is the door closed for Pienaar? Will he ever play for South Africa again? Look, I will never close the door on any South African who wants to play for his country. That's how it is."

The good news came in the shape of Kagiso Dikgacoi at Crystal Palace and Dean Furman, the Oldham Athletic captain. Igesund explained: "I visited both of them. I met KD's new coach at Palace, Ian (Holloway) and he was full of praise for KD. He's made a place for himself there in a very competitive league. I watched him played in a defensive role against Ipswich.

"And I phoned Ian after Palace won over the weekend and KD scored. They are top of that league, he is doing well. Ian said he can playing attacking or defensive. They love him there.

"And with both Oldham and Palace, I got what I wanted. I asked them to release KD and Furman a week early. FIFA stipulates they only have to be released two weeks before the tournament. But I've got their clubs to agree to let me have them on January 1.

"That was why I made the trip. To get to know these managers. To build a relationship. Some games, against local sides, I won't call their players. It's give and take.

"Now I have to build that relationship, with the managers in Begium, Holland and Greece too. That is my job.

"I also spoke to David Somma at Leeds. He's been out of football for a long time with a knee ligament problem but he's played two games for the reserves and he's nearly there.

"It's the same for Thulani Serero at Ajax Amsterdam. He is training again too. But for all these players, Morgan Gould, Killer Mphela and Benni McCarthy, they are back in training but they have to play for their club teams before I can seriously consider them.

"It isn't too late for any of them. But it's getting late. We kick off AFCON on January 19. Time is limited."

A shortened version of this story will appear as my Neal and Pray column in tomorrow's The New Age. See www.thenewage.co.za.

Crystal Palace won't dig deep for Gould... but mighty Morgan will dig deeper for a European future

SuperSports United centre-back Morgan Gould remained stoically upbeat after his surprise rejection at the hands of English Championship club Crystal Palace yesterday.

The 28-year-old flew home to Oliver Tambo International after his two weeks in South London insisting he “definitely” still wants to play in Europe, adding: “I’ve learned a lot from this experience.”

Gould , in man-of-the-match form when South Africa fought out a 0-0 draw against seven-times African champions Egypt in Cairo last month, was generally “impressive” on trial with the championship club in pre-season friendlies against Basingstoke and Wycombe Wanderers.

And with Bafana Bafana team-mate Kagisho Dikgachoi already at Selhurst Park after his move from Fulham, Morgan’s £500,000 transfer well within the bounds of most Championship clubs. Effectively the English second division, the Championship (18,106) is officially the sixth best-supported league in the world after Germany’s Bundesliga (42,673), the English Premier League (34,780), Spain’s La Liga (29,124), Italy’s Serie A (25,304) and France’s Ligue 1 (19,742).

But the Croydon Advertiser, the local “bible” for Palace fans, quoted Palace boss Dougie Friedman as saying yesterday: "Morgan did very well but at the price they were after I just felt he wasn't quite right for us.

“We're working to a very tight budget and at that price he would have had to go straight into the team and 'm not sure he was quite ready for that."

But when Gould arrived on trial, the Advertiser wrote: “Palace have only one recognised central defender in their ranks – and that is the error-prone Paddy McCarthy. A new man at the back is very much needed.”

Gould himself, talking to London-based former Johannesburg football writer Ed Aarons, said: “I most definitely still want to play in Europe.

“I’ll have to go back to South Africa and wait to hear if there are any other options. But it was a good experience that I will learn a lot from.

“We had a meeting today and Dougie said he likes everything he has seen but they need a player who can adapt quickly to the league. They are looking for someone who is experienced in playing in Europe so I have to respect that and move on now. Everything that happens to me I take it as a learning curve.”

On their fan site, Palace fan Lewisham Eagle wrote: “From what I read into that Dougie seems interested in Gould but wants to drive to price down.” EagleNut wrote: “We won't be signing Gould - DF thinks the price is too high and he 'isn't ready' for the first team.”

Prior to Gould’s rejection, Palace fans were being advised to stock up on blue and red vuvuzelas and rename one end at Selhurst Park “The Nelson Mandela Stand” in honour of KG (not many south Londoners can pronounce Dikgachoi) and Gould.

Palace were plunged into a financial crisis when colourful chairman Simon Jordan left after the club went into administration last year – they eventually avoided relegation by six points - but they still managed to pay around the same fee (5.3 million South African rand at yesterday’s rates) for midfielder Dikgachoi.

Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur paid £1.5m (around R16m) for Gould’s centre-back partner Bongani Khumalo last January and he has yet to play for the first team, though he has played in both Spurs’ Vodacom challenge matches in South Africa over the past week.

Just 24 hours before deciding to ditch Gould, Friedman saw Soweto-born 28-year-old who started out at Jomo Cosmos impress in a 0-0 pre-season draw at League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers. He said then: “Morgan has done fantastically well but I think it is only right I talk to the kid before I make any statement.

"It's hard to judge, but he's been with us for a week and we know what we're after. You do your homework and you'll see the signings I bring in will be the right type, the right age, the right profile and he fits all of that.

"So he's done alright but we'll have a chat with him tomorrow and see.

"There's a long, long way to go. There is a fee involved and before we can even go anywhere we'd have to get the right deal. We'll see."

Gould, capped 17 times by South Africa, will return to pre-season training with Supersports United next week. Boss Gavin Hunt may well be breathing a huge sigh of relief over Friedman’s harsh decision to return his captain. Matsatsantsa (The Swanky Boys) struggled in the South African Premier League last season, failing by a substantial margin to maintain the standards which led to three successive South African Premier League titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Keep up with all the latest sports news at www.neal-collins.blogspot.com and www.twitter.com/nealcol.

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