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Mark Gleeson
One of the secrets of SuperSport United’s triple championship success has been the planning the club put in place.
Astute buying, particularly of players nearing the end of their contracts, helped established an advantage that saw SuperSport dominate for three successive seasons. Strong leadership and staff pulling in the same direction have also contributed.
It is around this time now, even though there are still five games to go in the league season, that the ambitious clubs start setting in place their plans for the next year.
Traditionally the more popular clubs have been slower movers, a lack of decisive decision-making often retarding their progress and leading them to miss out on many opportunities, notably in the transfer market.
These days there is a sense sides like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are better-structured and therefore able to make important calls at the appropriate time.
Proaction instead of reaction is key now if clubs are to remain competitive, so the big bosses need to be making decisions now if all is to be in place before the start of next season.
Sundowns and Pirates, for example, must decide on who will coach them next and Chiefs need to strengthen their squad if they are to remain contenders.
Ruud Krol has lasted longer at Pirates than any other coach before him but has said he will be leaving at the end of the season, once his three-year deal is up.
Sundowns have been through three major internationals in as many seasons and are a club in desperate need of some stability.
In recent years they have had the most talented and star-ladened squad but failed to win the league because of constant shifting of power at the top.
If Patrice Motsepe is to realise his ambition of dominance, and get some decent returns for his considerable investment, he needs to employ a coach with a strong personality and big credentials to lead the club and give him time to get the job done.
Pirates too should surely by now be out in the market place looking for Krol’s replacement. To appoint a new coach in only June or July is to lose valuable time in the pre-season preparations for the 2011/2012 campaign.
Ajax Cape Town say they already have a short list of four to replace Foppe de Haan, who will be sorely missed when he retires at the end of the season.
The even more important process of signing players for the new campaign has to get underway. We only know that Sibusiso Zuma has signed a pre contract at SuperSport but for the rest the wheeling and dealing is being done behind closed doors.
Motsepe’s millions has inflated the market some what and frustrated the other big clubs who accuse him of pushing the prices up too much. But as they say, ‘if you want to pee with the big dogs, you can’t bark like a puppy’.
Mark Gleeson is a respected television commentator and Editorial Director of Mzanzi Football.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
One of the secrets of SuperSport United’s triple championship success has been the planning the club put in place.
Astute buying, particularly of players nearing the end of their contracts, helped established an advantage that saw SuperSport dominate for three successive seasons. Strong leadership and staff pulling in the same direction have also contributed.
It is around this time now, even though there are still five games to go in the league season, that the ambitious clubs start setting in place their plans for the next year.
Traditionally the more popular clubs have been slower movers, a lack of decisive decision-making often retarding their progress and leading them to miss out on many opportunities, notably in the transfer market.
These days there is a sense sides like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are better-structured and therefore able to make important calls at the appropriate time.
Proaction instead of reaction is key now if clubs are to remain competitive, so the big bosses need to be making decisions now if all is to be in place before the start of next season.
Sundowns and Pirates, for example, must decide on who will coach them next and Chiefs need to strengthen their squad if they are to remain contenders.
Ruud Krol has lasted longer at Pirates than any other coach before him but has said he will be leaving at the end of the season, once his three-year deal is up.
Sundowns have been through three major internationals in as many seasons and are a club in desperate need of some stability.
In recent years they have had the most talented and star-ladened squad but failed to win the league because of constant shifting of power at the top.
If Patrice Motsepe is to realise his ambition of dominance, and get some decent returns for his considerable investment, he needs to employ a coach with a strong personality and big credentials to lead the club and give him time to get the job done.
Pirates too should surely by now be out in the market place looking for Krol’s replacement. To appoint a new coach in only June or July is to lose valuable time in the pre-season preparations for the 2011/2012 campaign.
Ajax Cape Town say they already have a short list of four to replace Foppe de Haan, who will be sorely missed when he retires at the end of the season.
The even more important process of signing players for the new campaign has to get underway. We only know that Sibusiso Zuma has signed a pre contract at SuperSport but for the rest the wheeling and dealing is being done behind closed doors.
Motsepe’s millions has inflated the market some what and frustrated the other big clubs who accuse him of pushing the prices up too much. But as they say, ‘if you want to pee with the big dogs, you can’t bark like a puppy’.
Mark Gleeson is a respected television commentator and Editorial Director of Mzanzi Football.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
