Truter seeks identity for Richards Bay squad over Fifa break
Smiso Msomi
Richards Bay head coach Brandon Truter has flagged his side’s inability to develop a sustainable playing philosophy as the main reason behind his team’s shaky start to the campaign.
The Natal Rich Boyz suffered a slim defeat against Orlando Pirates on Sunday in a game where they created little to no chances on attack.
Man of the Match Ian Otieno 👏 🏆 pic.twitter.com/1lFH0GmenA
— Richards Bay FC (@RichardsBayFC_) September 29, 2024
The KwaZulu-Natal-based side have now won one, lost two and drawn one of their four Betway Premiership games this season and occupy 10th place in the standings. Truter took over at the club at the start of August after former coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi had initially been backed to take control of the team ahead of the 2024/2025 season.
Truter was afforded just over a month to try to inject his personality into the side that played their first match of the season in mid-September.
After their loss to Pirates, Truter expressed the difficulty of establishing a playing style, stating that he had previously set up his team to counter opposition sides rather than imposing themselves on them.
The experienced coach welcomed the short international break.
“We need to settle and create an identity as well. At this moment we’re reacting to opponents, so maybe in this Fifa break we’ll build a culture, a playing model and a bit of consistency,” he said.
“We do need to build a culture but the squad is so thin that you’re forced to react. But we would like to be a home team that looks forward to attacking more, instead of managing situations and teams.”
Richards Bay have also struggled to create and score chances so far this season. They are one of four clubs to register just a single goal in four matches played – Royal AM, Magesi and SuperSport United being the others.
Despite making eight signings ahead of the new campaign, Truter pointed to the lack of quality in attacking positions as the main issue with regards to goalscoring.
“Definitely, it’s an area of concern.
“You can coach and coach but it boils down to quality. Let’s face it, we don’t have a Mabasa, we don’t have the luxury of top strikers,” Truter said, in reference to Orlando Pirates marksman Tshegofatso Mabasa.
🎙️𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐏𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡| 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐲
— Samkelo Biyela (@Samkelo_kaay) September 30, 2024
🗣️“Giving a lot of value to the three points we know how difficult it was for us last season to play Richards Bay”
🗞️Story| @sportswireza#BetwayPrem #OrlandoPirates #RichardsBay pic.twitter.com/V2ujwjLQAs
“We have (Thabang) Sibanyoni, who was signed playing in the first division. We have (Yanela) Mbuthuma, who will grow and has potential but needs to play to grow.
“We lost (Somil) Ntsundwana with injury. So, it affects your attack.
“On the one side, you bring on (Siboniso) Conco, who also doesn’t have much game time. (Thabiso) Kutumela as well, for the last two seasons you can count on your hand how many games he’s played.”
The Natal Rich Boyz will return to the field on October 19 in Carling KO action.