Kick Off May 2022

It’s that time of the year again when we ask you, our loyal reader, to vote for our annual KICK OFF Footballer of the Season. Since 1994, when Orlando Pirates striker Marks Maponyane won the award after helping his team win the league, it has always been our tradition to ask the readers to vote for the best player from the current campaign. The only time we did not run the competition was during the 2019/20 season when the PSL season was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With so much uncertainty on whether the campaign was going to be concluded or not, we made the decision to suspend the voting and brought it back the following year. Kaizer Chiefs players won the award six times in the first…

Financial planning I would like to urge Mamelodi Sundowns to help their players with constant financial planning. Sundowns are a multiple trophy winning club and they’re highly resourced. Due to their owners’ billions of wealth, it’s their tradition that all the proceeds from the trophy winnings are being shared by the players and technical staff. The club owners are having many other businesses and football to them is to give back to the community in terms of creating employment opportunities. This season, the club that’s popularly known as The Brazilians, are aiming for a ‘Quadruple’ of trophies. In all their winnings, the club are only expected to take the coveted trophies and not the subsequent financial rewards. Football players are notoriously known for being buried as paupers. They earn a…

In Banyana we believe Congratulations to Banyana Banyana for qualifying for the 2022 edition of the African Women’s Cup of Nations to be staged in Morocco. I believe that Banyana’s performance has been on an upward trajectory since the 2018 Afcon in which they came second to Nigeria. They scored 16 goals in four games during the qualifiers, conceding only one with no less than nine different scorers. Furthermore, they netted four times against a much-fancied Nigeria in the Aisha Buhari Cup Final last year. Considering the experience of oversees-based players, in addition to the harmony in the team and the technical astuteness of coach Desiree Ellis, I believe that come July 23 Banyana will be crowned African champions. I am of the view that with unconditional support from every patriotic…

GOOD MONTH FOR … MAMELODI SUNDOWNS Back-to-back victories over Al Ahly is the stuff of dreams for Mamelodi Sundowns as they became the first side ever to secure 16 points in the group stages of a CAF Champions League campaign. BAD MONTH FOR … BENNI MCCARTHY There is very little loyalty left in football and despite his heroics in leading the team to a shock second place in the 2020/21 season, McCarthy was axed by AmaZulu after mixed form in which they had to deal with a maiden CAF Champions League campaign. ALSO LAST MONTH… • Mamelodi Sundowns name Norwegian Flemming Berg as the club’s new sporting director. • Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Mark Mayambela retires from professional football at the age of 34. • Kaizer Chiefs are slapped with…

Four years ago, there was plenty of fanfare about Lebogang Manyama’s return to the PSL to join Kaizer Chiefs following a disastrous season spent with Turkish club Konyaspor. The balloons that went up in celebration were justified as Manyama had been the king of domestic football prior to his departure, setting the scene alight at Cape Town City. His time in Konya had not been what he expected as he was besieged with issues that left him feeling he would be better off back home. And with Chiefs yearning for his services, it all appeared a match made in heaven. However, with Chiefs set to conduct yet another inquest as to why they have completed an unprecedented seventh consecutive season without silverware after Stuart Baxter’s first campaign back at the…

What happened with those that joined Kaizer Chiefs from clubs based outside the African continent? Since Bernard Parker’s return from spells in Serbia, Greece and Holland, Kaizer Chiefs have made it a habit to have arrivals from abroad in almost every season. Their most recent signing who has come in after a spell overseas is Keagan Dolly. Since coming in after a stint in France, Dolly has delivered on what is expected of him, scoring goals and adding assists. Prior to him was Kearyn Baccus, who arrived from Australia but hasn’t really lived up to expectations to justify why he was recruited from as far as Down Under. Serbian forward Samir Nurkovic has only had one season in which he has ticked all the boxes from the three that he has spent…