Matthews: I didn't think things with Phala would end like this

Cape Town - SuperSport United director of football Stan Matthews admits he has been left bitterly disappointed by the acrimonious ending to the club's relationship with former Bafana Bafana midfielder Thuso Phala.

Phala has six months left on his Supersport contract but is currently suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.

While Matthews did not want to divulge any detains of the hearing, he did confirm the winger’s contract will not be renewed at the end of the season.

"His contract expires in June and definitely we won’t be renewing it. There were one or two loan options on the table this week that we evaluated but nothing came out of them and he will see out his contract with us‚" Matthews said.

"I am disappointed with the way the relationship is ending but he has been a good player for us and I like him a lot as a person. I watched him grow up at Highlands Park‚ Silver Stars‚ Platinum Stars and I also know his mother Susan very well.

"I didn’t expect that the best-paid player in the history of the club would be ending his career making comments on Twitter‚ missing training and doing things that you don’t expect from a professional player.

"This is the highest-paid player in the history of our football club and possibly in the history of the PSL.

"The expectation was more professionalism from him but it is what it is now and we won’t forget the contribution he has made to the club.

"For me the Telkom Knockout final in 2015‚ that was Thuso at his best and one can’t be ungrateful to the contribution of players even though things go sour because these things happen."

Matthews added that it was a shame that Phala will not be staying on at the club in some capacity.

"I would have loved Thuso to be involved in my academy‚ to do some television work‚ to do PR like Thabo September‚ Jabu Mahlangu or coaching like Kaitano Tembo and Ricardo Katza‚ Grant Johnson or Andre Arendse," he said.

"It is sad that it is ending this way primarily because of off-field issues.

"I don’t want to have a bad vibe with Thuso. His future is in his hands but he has a DC [disciplinary committee] hearing coming up which I can’t talk too much about‚ and that is the situation."