Bobby Motaung’s word is not good enough anymore. Some have even argued the Kaizer Chiefs football manager and son of Amakhosi supremo Kaizer Motaung, is no longer a reliable source of information.
And the continuing player exodus at Naturena gives credence to these statements.
The latest in the long list of key players seeking greener pastures is goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse, who rejected a new contract and decided on Thursday that he’d had enough of playing second fiddle to first choice Itumeleng Khune.
You see, even though Pieterse has featured the most this season out of the three ’keepers at Chiefs, deep down he always knew that Khune really has no rival.
The Bafana Bafana shot-stopper has been struggling with injuries for the better part of the campaign, giving Pieterse his deserved time in the sun.For a while it looked like the former Nike Academy star would sign a spanking new deal to fight for his place alongside Khune and Brilliant Khuzwayo, whose behaviour off the pitch in recent times has made a mockery of his name and probably cost him game time under coach Steve Komphela.
Which takes us back to Bobby’s role in ensuring Chiefs do not allow talent to look for a new home and even more bizarre, leave for free. Pieterse is reportedly on his way to SuperSport United to work with former coach Stuart Baxter and give Ronwen Williams some stiff competition. But why did Amakhosi fail to tie him down?
It’s not the first time Bobby tells whoever cares to listen that negotiations for new contracts are progressing at a steady pace and that the club will take its own time.It now appears players and the management are never on the same page when it comes to these things.
There was a big row over contracts and salaries at Naturena at the end of the previous season, with Khune, then captain Tefu Mashamaite and Mandla Masango, all asking for improved packages.
Remember what Bobby told the press? It was a no-brainer that the trio would remain at Chiefs and defend their Premier League title.
”Negotiations are still ongoing for both players (Mashamaite and Khune). We are confident everything will be finalised soon. I am confident Itumeleng will stay with us beyond this season. He is our boy, because we developed him,” he said at the time.A few weeks later he and his father claimed the players were being greedy and holding the club to ransom.
But Bobby was right about one thing, Khune did eventually stay after first leaving the club in pursuit of a move abroad only to return – cap in hand – begging to be a Glamour Boy or otherwise find himself in limbo without a club or, even worse, a salary.
Mashamaite and Masango stuck to their guns and were off to Sweden and Denmark respectively. There were early signs that Pieterse, who will walk away a free agent on June 30, might also take the high road when he told Chiefs it was too soon to begin negotiating whether he would be staying or leaving late last year.
It looked like he was ready to sit down to discuss his future in January, with Bobby telling this columnist: “We are prepared to give him a hearing when he feels he is in the right frame of mind. It’s a two-way street because we are interested in giving him an extension and it is up to him and his agent to finalise the deal.”
Who is fooling who here?
Earlier this month, the Amakhosi manager revealed that he was still busy trying to conclude a deal to extend midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s stay and will make further announcements on player movements in due course.
Following confirmation on Thursday that Pieterse is set for new beginnings, anyone who assumes Chiefs suddenly have a hard time holding on to their top players wouldn’t be too far off the mark. It’s unlikely that Pieterse’s decision was motivated by money. Guarantees for the No?1 jersey might have been the deal-breaker.
However, Bobsteak still has to dig a little bit deeper in those pockets to hold on to key men moving forward.
Saturday Star