Chiefs� triumph against odds is sweeter
Dennis Keagile | Thursday April 30, 2015 17:26
The first reason is that the club has been at war with itself. The second reason is that for the first time in history, Chiefs have managed to chase Township Rollers for the league.
The third reason is that while Rollers invested heavily during the January transfer window by annexing former Chiefs stars in Dirang Moloi, Jerome Ramatlhakwane, Noah Maposa and Tshepo Motlhabankwe; Chiefs on the other hand stayed put. The fourth reason is that this will be the first trophy the club has won since joining forces with Ribbon Investment led by property mogul, Said Jamal.
With the club facing some kind of internal strife, the technical team and management team did not take their eyes off the ball. In fact for some reason, Chiefs seem to do well when the odds are stacked against it. And much as it is a club prone to crisis, it seems to have mastered the strategy of untangling itself out of the web.
And while the league trophy is just a point away, the club would have to clean its house as well so as to improve its brand.
For years, Chiefs have always lacked the stamina to surpass its opponent when chasing the league title. Instead, its rivals gave it the title of matron of honour or best man as it seemed good in taking its rivals to the podium. For Jamal and his Ribbon Investment company, the waiting has been sheer torture as the operating costs have been huge but the returns very little.
The Chiefs brand still needs reconstruction though. The support for the club has not grown exponentially when compared to the success the club has achieved in the last eight years or so. Out there, there is still a section of the community that views the club as a tribal entity although the composition of technical personnel says otherwise. It therefore means the club has to work extra hard to demystify the tribal stigma.
One of the major things the club has to change is the logo. Under the current design, the logo is uninspiring and has too many variants or clutter in it. From a marketing perspective, it is uninspiring and from a socio-politico environment it seems to entrench certain stigmas. As a result, some people get too emotive whenever it is mentioned yet reality on the ground says otherwise. But, all in all, this year’s league title will be savoured by many because of the different challenges the club went through.
Joel Mogorosi
It is quite unfortunate that Joel ‘Spit Fire’ Mogorosi who two seasons ago was the darling of Bloemfontein Celtic fans find himself confined to the bench and not sure of his future with the club. Mogorosi’s downfall was the hiring of Ernst Middendorp as the coach. Middendorp used him sparingly and I tend to think this affected his confidence. Committed and passionate as he is, I think he could still deliver for two more years at the top level.
The only sad part is that he realised his potential or broke through the professional ranks a bit late. He joined the Premier League at a ripe age of 27, assuming that was his real age and not the sporting age as it is sometimes alleged. Perhaps his agent should have negotiated for a loan either to Chippa United, Polokwane City and even a club here in Botswana.
As for Mogogi Gabonamong, I think he has little complaint and has no doubt that his stay in South Africa has been fruitful.
Had he moved from Cape Town Santos earlier, he probably would have made more money for himself, but I still think he did.
Quite a number of Premier League clubs are short on experienced and reliable defenders and he would easily be signed by any club in Botswana.
He can easily enjoy his pension if at all there is pension in football.
The player that I fear for is Dirang Moloi. Talented as he is, I am afraid that we will only remember him in patches as I do not remember how many trophies he has collected as a player.
His short-term contracts could be rewarding him financially but from a football perspective, I think he is doing himself a disservice.
I want him to settle down with one club and give out all his best so that he can unleash his potential and win medals.
Otherwise he will be one of those high maintenance players, but whose return on investment is very minimal. He ought to settle down and settle down quickly.
Under-23
In 2007, the Under-23 side missed the trip to China for the Olympic Games by a whisker. Despite not enjoying much support from the Football Association, the team led by Major David Bright did exceptionally well against heavy weights like Cameroon and Tunisia.
Now eight years later, the Under-23 side led by Keitumetse ‘Pio’ Paul ably assisted by Davis ‘Mlungisi’ Kopi and Desmond Molefe is a fresh breath of air. Even youngsters have developed a liking for the team, but it can only do so much. The rest I think now belongs to the BFA to give the necessary support.
It is not always that we see such high scores in official games for our teams, but the 3-0 mauling of Kenya in the All Africa Games qualifier says a lot. And the team ought to be warned, it is not over until it is over hence the return leg will be equally fierce.
We need to be on the look out for off- the field shenanigans from our opponents.
The margin looks big, but can easily be overturned as recently Bayern Munich beat Porto 6-1 in the UEFA champions league after losing the first leg 3-1.
Football is known for its unpredictable nature hence it is always said, on any day anything is possible. But otherwise congratulations to the team for making us believe again. Good luck.