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Cape Town - Baroka FC chairman Kurishi Mphahlele has given head coach Wedson Nyirenda the mandate of winning the league this season, despite the club narrowly avoiding relegation last time out.
Bakgaga ensured their Absa Premiership safety on a dramatic last day of the season with a 1-1 draw against Maritzburg United.
The Limpopo-based side have been busy in the transfer market, bringing in no less than eight players, and for this reason Mphahlele believes his club are title contenders.
“I have given him (Nyirenda) what he wanted with regards to players and he must give me what I want.
"He knows very well that I want the league.
“I am satisfied with the quality of players that we managed to recruit to the club and how the pre-season has gone over the past month or so.
"Our team is balanced in all departments and what is left now is for the coach to come up with winning combinations so that we can achieve our mission.
“We are in our fourth season in the PSL and we can’t continue to say that we are learning.
"It is time to be bold and declare our intentions of wanting to win the league as early as possible.”
Mpahlele has identified the league as the club's top priority and is not bothered about defending the Telkom Knockout or winning the Nedbank Cup.
“I am not too much worried with the cup competitions because they are mostly about luck‚" he said.
"You can win four games and be crowned cup champion but in the league you must be consistent over a period of 30 matches.
"That is how teams are judged and that is what we want to do this season.
“I think we are going to be dark horses because a lot of people do not think that we can actually challenge for the league.
"Having seen these boys at training and some of the pre-season matches‚ we are going to surprise a lot of people.”
Baroka have finished 15th, 14th and 14th in their three seasons in the top-flight and Mphahlele might be suffering from delusions of grandeur.
