Amazulu coach Steve Barker understands it will take more than new signings to help his side escape relegation.
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Johannesburg - Amazulu coach Steve Barker understands it will take more than just adding new signings to his squad if they are to escape the throes of relegation in the second round of the Absa Premiership, following their 2-1 defeat in a friendly encounter against the Castle Academy Superstars at the Balfour Alexandra Football Club sporting grounds at the weekend.
Usuthu have brought in the services of defender Roscoe Pietersen and Mbulelo ‘OJ’ Mabizela in pursuit of strengthening the backline, while former Mpumalanga Black Aces shot-stopper Energy Murambandoro is expected compete for the number one jersey in the starting line-up. Mamelodi Sundowns’ Bonginkosi Ntuli and Bidvest Wits’ midfielder Asive Langwe also have confirmed moves to the Durban side on loan deals. Barker said the newly signed players had the kind of workrate he wanted to help the club escape the possibility of being relegated, come May 9.
“We’ve brought in six new players,” Barker said. “(Midfielder) Thabiso Dlamini is one of our youngsters we’ve promoted from the Durban Warriors reserve side and we hope to play him as the second round progresses. I’m happy with how things have gone during the past transfer window. The signings were necessary. We needed to add depth, quality and competitiveness into the squad and the Amazulu management have been outstanding in ensuring that happened for us. We still have a fighting chance,” he added.
Barker, who took over as Usuthu’s head coach two months ago after having led the University of Pretoria into PSL promotion back in 2012 during his six-year spell with the club, said it is important his side step up to the challenge of producing more wins than the series of losses they suffered in the first round.
Usuthu take on Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida stadium next week Wednesday in their opening round of fixtures of 2015.
“We are under no illusion that it is not going to be easy task to win matches in the second round,” Barker said. “But we are hopeful. If we didn’t have such a belief then we needn’t even bother with our preparations for our remaining matches. We really can produce the wins in our upcoming matches.
“We got ourselves into this position, and it is now up to us to get ourselves out of it. For the time being, we need to integrate the new signings into the squad. We need to work on their match fitness and sharpness and hopefully, by the time we take on Orlando Pirates, they’ll be ready for the clash,” he added.
Meanwhile former Bafana Bafana striker Phil Masinga has praised the level of quality displayed by the Castle Academy SuperStars this season. The Academy, in its third season, managed to produce four wins out of five friendly encounters they’ve had against their PSL and NFD opponents in the past two weeks. NFD’s Highlands Park were the first on the list to receive a 5-2 hiding, while the University of Pretoria suffered a 1-0 defeat at home and Bidvest Wits awoke to a 4-3 drubbing after full-time. But it was Mamelodi Sundowns’ Multichoice Diski Challenge side which proved to be more of a stumbling block for the Academy side as they were subjected to a 2-1 defeat. Masinga, who is part of the Academy’s technical staff, said he was highly impressed with the level of hunger and talent the young men had put out throughout the campaign.
“I had said at the beginning that this season was going to be totally different in comparison to the previous ones we’ve had. There was a whole lot of hunger and talent just looking at the players we’ve brought into the Academy this season. My only hope is that they don’t get big- headed, given the stellar performance they’ve shown against their PSL opponents. You never arrive in football; each day is a learning curve and so you keep on working towards your goals and dreams. And if they can manage to implement this principle in their daily lives, I see them achieving greater things in the near future.”
The Star
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