Play-off failure exposes cracks

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Correspondent | Wednesday July 16, 2008 00:00

 

After they were outwitted by Naughty Boys to the First Division South title and automatic promotion to the Premier League, Prisons XI pinned their hopes on the play-offs but once again they failed to rise to the occasion. It is likely the Warders will not be coached by Stanley Mwaanga, whose contract expires some time this month. Although he is very diplomatic, Mwaanga is clearly not satisfied with the club officials. 'We lacked resources, even basic things like training balls throughout the season. Most of the players we had were a little too old. They did their best. I did my best as coach but honestly we should have bought quality players. It was not just about lack of depth. It had to do with the quality of players we had,' Mwaanga said.

The problems of Prisons XI worsened with each of the four games in the play-offs. They started without the experience of stalwart defender Kabelo Kgosiang who was injured a few weeks ago. Oneeleng 'Six' Radikara got transferred from Gaborone just before the start of the play-offs. Striker Kaizer Molapo, who was the top scorer with 15 goals in the First Division South League, did not accompany the team to Selebi-Phikwe for the last round of the play-offs and neither did Moses Magwaneng one of the key players.

While officials said Molapo asked to be relased from camp to attend to a family matter, Mmegi Sport is reliably informed that he did not travel to Selebi-Phikwe because he disagreed with the management. Molapo is among the few civilian players at the club. He is reported to be getting nothing from the club for his efforts.

One of the club's supporters who is also a prisons officer told Mmegi Sport on condition of anonymity that poor administration resulted in the failure to gain promotion. 'This team is run by people who do not care about the welfare of the players. Most of the players here are just volunteering and no one appreciates this,' he said.

He asserted that unless management changed its style of running the club, there will be big trouble as most players are now de-motivated and are no longer interested in playing for the team. 'We will see Prisons XI going straight to the Second Division if things continue the way they are,' he said.

Team manager Jacob Tonoki blames injuries for the problems. He brushed aside any suggestions that management failed the coach and his players. 'After the league ended, we did not break because we were preparing for the play-offs and we sustained a lot of injuries in the process. By the time we started the play-offs, the players were still nursing injuries. Kgosiang got injured in our game against Zebras before they left for Ivory Coast and has not played in the promotional games and his experience could have helped us. The youngsters missed his inspiration on the field,' Tonoki said.

Prisons XI apparently took only 13 players to Selebi-Phikwe and Tonoki claimed it was due to injuries. 'Moses Magwaneng got injured against Miscellaneous in the first game and never recovered. As for Kaizer (Molapo) he said that he was attending a family matter and we could not stop him. I do not know if it was because of any problems with management,' Tonoki said.

While Mwaanga believes their poor campaign resulted from fielding too many ageing players, Tonoki is of the view that having too many youngsters can be costly. 'We do not have money to buy big name players and we rely on our development structures for new talent but unfortunately for us, we did not have the right mix of youth and experience this time,' Tonoki argued.