Green Lovers not threatened by their position
Bonte Seepi | Friday March 17, 2017 16:04
Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Lovers coach Onthusitse Kootswele said his side mathematically still stands a chance to stay in the upper league, should they play well in their remaining games.
He said though many people have already written them off, they are still walking with their heads up and even intend to print their kit for next season to show that they have made it to the third season. Lovers have so far managed to stay in the elite league for two seasons and though last season they were not doing very well, they managed to survive the relegation. They were promoted into the elite league in 2015.
“Mathematically we still stand a chance to survive relegation. We have not yet given up and we will actually accept that we have relegated after we see it really happening. However, we are not putting ourselves under any pressure. We shall play each game as it comes,” said Kootswele.
Meanwhile, Kootswele said if it happens that they relegate, they will accept it and go back to introspect on where they went wrong. He said for now they are working on motivating the players and not to put themselves under any pressure to win.
“We are trying to tell them not to pressurise themselves and just stick to their normal play. Moreover, we have told them to take each game as it comes and accept whatever results that shall come,” he added.
Kootswele also said he could not blame a certain individual on the team’s bad performance this season, but revealed that both the management and players are to blame. He said while the management were not doing enough to provide competitive players that the club needed for them to compete in the elite league, the boys also relaxed and did not bring the desired results.
He said in cases of rainfall, the management could have had an alternative ground for the boys to train to avoid instances where the boys played without training. He said such issues cannot be excuses in modern football.
“This is not the time to point fingers but to ensure that we learn from those who do better than us. It might be too late to change anything, but we shall continue fighting and competing,” he said.
Lovers will face Police XI on Saturday and Kootswele told this publication that they are ready for it. He said his boys shall compete as usual. He said though they have a few injuries, the team is technically ready to face the Jungle Kings.