Chat with Chikoya

I hope that all you soccer fans are well. Since my last colum, things have got much tighter at the top of the League.

Actually, they are tight at the bottom as well. We dropped three points against Seven Stars recently and Gordon Igesund went beserk. He kept us in the dressing room after the game for about 30 minutes. He kept us in the dressing room for about 30 minutes after the game. He was furious, because in the first half we played according to his plans, but, in the second half, we were pathetic. According to Gordon, it was the worst performance he had ever seen from a Manning Rangers side. Hey, Gordon does'nt lose his cool often but when he does, boy, he lets us know about it.

But now that is all over and we can look forward to putting things right. We play Vaal Pros away and every time we play them its a high score - so expect a lot of goals. We should definately come back with three points. After that game, we have the big 'six-pointer' against Kaizer Chiefs. Whichever team loses could be looking at the end of their Championship hopes, so its going to be a real humdinger, a championship decider. There will be a full house and feelings will be running high. Even though, I, personally, am looking forward to this game, I cannot ignore the fact the we have never done well against Chiefs on their own battleground. The odds are definately against us. Doctor Khumalo is playing like I've never seen before - he's tackling, defending and going forward so we will have to make a plan to stop him. Normally I compete with Thabang Lebese but, lately, Frank Makua has been getting a game - either way - I am not concerned.

Let them worry about us, the pressure will be on them. In fact, we must guard against thinking that the Chiefs game is everything. It wont do us any good if we beat Chiefs and then drop points elsewhere. From now onwards, every game is like a Cup Final to us. After Chiefs, we play Swallows at home, and like us, they will be pretty desperate for the points, but I am sorry for 'The Birds', they'll leave Durban with their wings sadly clipped.

Gordon gave us the week off after the Seven Stars game so we are refreshed and ready for action. Talking about Gordon, we, the players, have heard all the rumours flying around about Gordon leaving us at the end of the season to go and coach Orlando Pirates, in fact, some say its Kaizer Chiefs or even the new Ajax Cape Town side. Let me tell you from the 'horses mouth', Gordon says that he has a five-year contract with the club and that it is a very good one with good money. So, as far as he is concerned, he is staying. Personally, I think it would be a huge loss to Manning Rangers if he was allowed to go.

The other story doing the rounds is that our owner, Kaycee Reddy, is going to sell the club if he does'nt get a sponsor soon. Mr. Reddy is a wealthy man and I think it would be terrible for South African soccer if the Manning Rangers success story had such an unhappy ending. It would be like a death in the KwaZulu Natal soccer family. Even those KZN citizens who pledge their support to Chiefs or Pirates have a soft spot for Manning Rangers. In their hearts, they are proud that a small team from their region 'conquered the world' and brought the first inaugural PSL trophy home to fertile soccer soil of KZN.

As players we try not to let these rumours affect us but it is still not nice to hear them. Its sad that money dictates a clubs failure or success, and, in this country, the gap between the rich and poor clubs is very wide which is also why the standard of play varies so much. Look at the other KZN club, Amazulu, ther are sitting with real financial problems that have dragged them down to the bottom of the League when not so long ago they were at the top. It is for reasons like this that I thinkS SAFA must give deals like the AJAX one the go-ahead. It is important to have strong, stable ownership in order to improve standards.

You know, the problem of clubs and money is a common one all over Africa. In my home country, Zimbabwe, we have the same problem - no sponsorship for the clubs. Only Dynamos, one of the three big clubs in the country has money. Dynamos are based in Harare and fill their homeground every time they play with an average of 70 000 spectators. That is more support than Kaizer Chiefs get. They fill the stadiums wherever they play. The players are well paid and its a top club. Incidentally, my father is the assistant coach at Dynamos. Dynamos could match any team in the PSL and do well.

The other big club is also in Harare and called Caps United. They used to get big crowds, but not anymore - their situation is very similar to Pirates today. Caps get about 8000-12000 people to a game which is actually more than what Pirates are getting these days. The third biggest club is based in Bulawayo and is called Highlanders. They also draw big crowds of at least 7000 to their home games. The rest of the clubs are situated around Harare and Bulawayo, the two main cities in Zimbabwe, but they have very little support. The standard of administration and professionalism in Zimbabwe is very poor, way behind South African standards so guys, stop moaning and count your blessings.

In Zimbabwe, the league has eighteen teams and I can tell you know the that the teams in the middle of the Zim league would easily beat the bottom 4 or 5 teams in PSL, but, the teams at the top of Zim league would not be able to beat SA's top four. With the exception of Dynamos. Zimbabwe is also losing many of its top players to South African soccer and so the standard in my country will never get a proper chance to improve. I think there are about 15 Zim players in SA at the moment, and I am proud to be one of them. Hopefully, we are a credit to the PSL and Zimbabwe and people will know that poor as it is, Zimbabwe is rich in soccer talent.