Releasing students cost us � Motlakase
Bonte Seepi | Wednesday November 18, 2015 14:28
Mogotsi told Mmegi Sport they had no proper pre-season preparations and faced big teams in the first three games. “Releasing our players who are students also came as a blow to us. We had to excuse them early because they are all writing their Form 5 final examinations, so we wanted to give them sometime to prepare.
“Unfortunately, the students are key players so it was hard for us to survive as we did not have quality players to match their standard,” said Mogotsi.
The key players who are still students are; goalkeeper, Daniel Kedidimetse, centre back Thato Kebue and midfielder Gape Mohutsiwa. They are all Under-23 national team players. While the other two are in and out of the team due to examinations, Mohutsiwa has been excused as he is doing pure sciences, which require undivided focus.Mogotsi said their bottom position on the log does not reflect their performance. “Most of the games that we played were winnable, but we were unlucky. The boys are creating a lot of chances in every game they play, but fail to convert,” he said.
Mogotsi decried the challenge of lack of resources, which he said forces them to skip camp during their home games.
“We are struggling, we have no resources because the team has not found a sponsor,” he said. However, he said they have put measures in place to motivate the players. This includes former players addressing the current crop.
“We are fighting very hard because the situation is seriously affecting our performance and the boys’ psychology. We have even called onto our retired players to help us in fighting to turn the tables,” he said.
He said they are not dreaming of relegating as First Division is more challenging than the elite league in terms of resources, sponsors and even retaining players. He said there is still time to recover, provided they win games.