A disappointing season for Naughty Boys

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Correspondent | Thursday April 8, 2010 00:00

 

The club is struggling when a lot was expected of them at the beginning of the season. It is in eighth spot with 23 points and need to win the remaining three games to avoid the ignominy of dropping to Division Two.

As Dinoko continue to struggle, fellow Tlokweng sides Black Peril and Tlokweng United has been making the village proud. Black Peril have been impressive after being promoted to the First Division South League at the beginning of the season while Tlokweng United have managed a respectable performance.

Despite the poor run by Naughty Boys, team manager Slow Lopang insists that they still have a 'good' chance to finish second and fight for promotion to the Premier League in the play-offs. 'This league is tight and unpredictable. One moment you think such and such a team are favourites and the next you find that there are five teams with an equal chance of winning the league. At the bottom, it is even more interesting because if you win a single game you jump three teams,' he said.

More disappointing, according to Lopang, is the fact that unlike the past three seasons, the team started well after dropping from the Premier League.

'We dropped from the Premier League before and struggled in the first round because we lost some key players and we were able to recover in the second round to bounce back into the Premier League.

This time after we dropped, we were able to play well in the first round finishing at third position and I had thought we would build on to that in the second round but we kept dropping points,' he said.

The return of Botlhe 'Ringo' Rankgomo from Gaborone United (GU) excited many fans but Lopang never believed he could do much to change the fortunes of the club. He told Mmegi Sport that though he valued the dread-locked striker's contribution, he felt the responsibility of taking the team back to the top would be too daunting for him. 'He had just returned from a team with better financial resources than us and if there was not enough motivation, then what could possibly motivate him here?' Lopang asked.

Many of the team's supporters have expressed doubts about coach Timmy Setswe's capabilities but Lopang has been quick to defend him.

He said, as a young local coach, Setswe needed management's full support. He absolved him of any blame in the team's poor performance.

Though he declined to elaborate, Lopang said there have been other factors which have resulted in the team's poor showing. Naughty Boys has three tough encounters against bottom of the log Kgabosetso Southern Callies, home boys Tlokweng United and fellow strugglers Eastern Tigers. 'These are not simple games as all the results could have a bearing on our future.  But if I have to rely on our recent history, then we should do well against Kgabosetso in Moshupa because we seem to do well away from home,' Lopang said.