Selolwane gets coach's backing

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Friday February 5, 2010 00:00

Selolwane has struggled to claim a starting place at the Ikamva outfit since the departure of Muhsin Etugral late last year. Current coach, Foppe De Haan prefers South African internationals Lance Davids and Clifford Ngobeni. But Mugeyi believes Selolwane deserves a starting place at the Urban Warriors.

'If I was the head coach, Dipsy would always be in my starting line-up. He is a fantastic player, he is a good passer of the ball, and he marks, creates scoring opportunities and scores goals as well. He is an all-rounder and he is working very hard because he wants to play,' Mugeyi told Mmegi Sport.

'We have got 30 players and we always rotate them especially Dipsy's position. We have about six players in that position so the coach decides who he wants to play depending on the game we will be playing. That is the situation. It is not that Dipsy is playing badly,' he said.

Reports from South Africa suggest that the Botswana international may be heading for the exit door after the club decided not to renew his contract. However, Mugeyi rubbished the reports. 'It is all up to the club's directors to start negotiating with Dipsy for a new contract. He has done well at Ajax,' he said.

He added that Selolwane who turned 32 last week, can still play for a few more seasons. 'I don't think his age is an issue because if a player is good, it doesn't matter whether he is 26 or 19. If his age was really an issue, we could have released him a long time ago. I finished my career at 37 here at Ajax, so it is not about the age.' Dipsy's contract with Ajax ends in June.