Boyo promises Stimela return
Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday August 30, 2016 15:02
Stimela, as the Mahalapye side is affectionately known, will be in the tough Debswana First Division North (DFDN) league after their relegation from the top flight.
Stimela face former Premiership sides FC Satmos, Motlakase Power Dynamos, ECCO City Greens, GNT, TAFIC and TASC in the second tier football.
But the former Motlakase coach is not fazed by the competition that lies ahead, confidently saying Highlanders will bounce back.
“We might have lost a number of senior players but we still have a competitive side,” he said. “We have brought in a few youngsters from development sides in the Tswapong region and here in Mahalapye and they are good players. It’s a matter of getting them to gel and we are bouncing back next season,” Radipotsane said.
He said the situation at BR Highlanders is promising and if the team leadership could show commitment and sort off the field matters, then the future looks bright.
“BR is not a bad team, they might have struggled on the field but there is great potential. They have a good backing from (Botswana) Railways and if everything could be coordinated properly then surely BR will make a comeback and stay in the Premiership.” Stimela team manager, Witness Phuthego also reiterated Radipotsane’s sentiments. He said they had long known which players were going to leave the team.
“There were signs that some of the players will be exiting at the end of the season and we put a plan in place for that,” he said. “We had started finding their replacements about five months ago when the league (Premiership) was still in progress,” he said.
Phuthego said their target is to return to the Premiership with a younger squad.
“The mistake we made previously is to rely on seasoned players who were a bit old. We enjoyed their experience but they were a bit too heavy physically.
“What we learnt is that we need to build a young side that will compete for a number of seasons to come and you can’t have a better coach than Boyo (Radipotsane) to compliment that,” he said.