Mellowing Ndlovu to test Drago's nine lives

Mqondisi Dube | Thursday January 30, 2014 14:20

Madinda Ndlovu

A former flying winger, Ndlovu has emerged as a late bloomer with silverware fast rolling in. Ndlovu first came to Township Rollers in 2006 and success eluded him but he will feel hard done by when he had the Coca-Cola Cup in sight only for the infamous Bernard Semakwezi saga ruin his chances. He moved to Selebi-Phikwe side, Nico United where despite the absence of silverware, his reputation soared. He managed to take the modest side to a fourth place finish in 2007, then their best ever league finish. He had brief stints back in his homeland, Zimbabwe, but failed to land an elusive trophy.

He was not short of admires as he coached his native national team before being lured back by Mochudi Centre Chiefs. It was at Chiefs where the former Highlanders tear-away winger blossomed. He won back-to-back league titles and is now eyeing his third with the Rollers juggernaut seemingly unstoppable. In fact Ndlovu might end up with a double as he is still in the hunt in the Mascom Top 8. Rollers lead the log with 42 points, three ahead of their Sunday opponents. A win over his old club would be sweet music to his new paymasters. At Rollers, Ndlovu has put together a team that emphasises on teamwork, and has found a goal-scoring machine in Namibian, Jerome Louis. The heart and soul of the team, Sekhana Koko, is struggling for fluency, but Ndlovu has made sure that does not disrupt his team's rhythm as new signing, Motsholetsi Sikele, has been a revelation.

Dragojlo Stanojlovic

'Drago who?' could easily have been the cliché headline when the little known Serb landed in the country. Not much is known about the stocky man except for his touchline antics and poor English (which is not his first language). On numerous occasions the media has booked his flights back home, but like a cat with nine lives, he has stayed. He remains unpopular with the fans who feel he brought little to change the dimension of play. 'Drago's best game has to be the Top 8 clash, coincidentally against Sunday's opponents. Although his side went down 3-2, they played with a swagger and they outpassed Rollers. However, Rollers sneaked home right at the death, meaning Stanojlovic was still searching for his first win against his adversaries at that stage. The Serbian, with only the league title to fight for, will see the beMOBILE trophy as the only piece of silverware to appease Magosi fans. The appointment of China Matlhaku seems to have stabilised the bench after the departure of Innocent Morapedi. However, under 'Drago' Chiefs tend to meander a lot for a team chasing the title. They have not been thoroughly ruthless or stolen points in difficult games, the team's trade trademark during their title winning runs. A win over their old enemy will carve a name for the Serbian in the hearts of the Chiefs fans. 

The fans though are still unconvinced that he is a tactician who can wave his magic wand and turn around a game. Stanoljovic's adrenalin will pump when he looks at the statistics. Ndlovu was the first person to inflict defeat after Chiefs had gone for eight matches without a loss. At that stage it seemed as if the Kgatleng boys were fast disappearing with the title, but were quickly hauled back by successive poor results.