Smiso Msomi
Richards Bay head coach Brandon Truter has voiced concerns over the mentality of his players following their elimination from the Carling Knockout Cup on Saturday. The Natal Rich Boyz struggled to recover after trailing Magesi FC in the first half and were knocked out of the competition at the semi-final stage for the second consecutive season.
The KwaZulu-Natal-based outfit have now faced a challenging period, losing three of their last four matches across all competitions while failing to score from open play in their last five outings. Truter, clearly frustrated, questioned whether a lack of desire among his players played a part in their defeat.
“That is the problem because when you look at the coach to motivate you, then you have nothing, nothing to think about. I can teach you football, I can teach you everything but when you look at these ingredients – the will, the determination, the motivation, the drive, it is inside – I can't coach,” he said.
“Some players understand that, but for some players, it is okay to lose.
“Even in the game today, you see the coaches shouting on the touchline, but the question is can you play when the coach is quiet? Those are the questions we should be asking.”
The team has endured a difficult start to the season, grappling with a challenging travel schedule and facing formidable opponents. Truter pointed out that the fatigue from their recent matches was evident during parts of the game against newly promoted Magesi. “
The amount of accumulation of fatigue over this period this week led to a lapse of concentration that weighed us down. Magesi was on the front foot for the majority of the game, they got the goal and leveraged on the mistakes,” he added.
Richards Bay entered the semi-final as strong contenders, given their recent success in the competition and their experience in the top flight. However, their downfall was marked by a costly error from Tshepo Mabua, whose back pass was seized upon and converted into the match's only goal.
Truter acknowledged that, despite the setback, his team displayed a commendable performance prior to the pivotal mistake.
“Hugely disappointed, especially how we started the game. I think we started brightly, created some chances, and finally got the ball into the penalty area on numerous occasions but failed to connect. We knew they were going to threaten us on the counter, and we managed to turn the ball over very high and kept them at bay.”
He continued, “Our rotations in between the lines were very good as well. Unfortunately, we suffered as it came down to one goal and one mistake at the moment.”
With an international break on the horizon, the well-travelled coach will have time to reassess and reconfigure his troops ahead of the league fixture against AmaZulu awaiting their return.