Times Of Swaziland: SLY-ING ON THE KNIFE-EDGE

SLY-ING ON THE KNIFE-EDGE
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Chris Dlamini on 06/04/2022 08:35:00


MBABANE – He is on the knife-edge.
That is South African Mbabane Highlanders’ Head Coach, Selaotse ‘Sly’
Mosala, who finds himself under immense pressure for the first time since taking
charge of the black and white Inkunz’emnyama ensemble. ‘Sly’ replaced now
Green Mamba coach, Ernest Mavuso ahead of the ‘Big Derby’ clash which
Highlanders won 1-0 over Mbabane Swallows at the Mavuso Sports Centre on January
23, 2022 courtesy of Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa’s 71st minute penalty.
Eight games into his job, Mosala has become a subject for discussion in the
club, with a couple of meetings already having taken place since the goalless
draw with minnows Tinyosi last Saturday. “There’ll be another meeting where
the whole management committee (MC) will be involved then it becomes a team
decision what happens next,” an impeccable source said. The source said there
was one meeting held after the game on Saturday night, and then another on
Sunday where the performance of the team was discussed.
Concerned
“The Chief (Ally) was very concerned with the performance, as we have dropped
the standards of our game drastically, and it’s not okay, as the director
wants the title and to go to Africa as champions. It’s not a secret that
we’re not playing well and the signs started showing against Tambuti, who we
beat but the football was not on point, then we moved on to the Sea Birds game
where we conceded two quick goals yet we were 3-0 up and then we couldn’t
score against Tinyosi,” a source close to the club’s South African Director
Chief Ally Kgomongwe said.
Another source added that the director felt the club had dropped in its football
standard as it was no longer exciting yet they still had the same squad. “Talk
to Babe Benson he will tell you because he was tasked with addressing the coach,
as the Chief did not want to do it at that moment due to disappointment,” said
the source. The club’s patron, Benson Dlamini, who is also Kgomongwe’s
right-hand man, confirmed meeting ‘Sly’. “Football is quite something.
When people advise you, you take what they say even when you know you won’t
use it,” he diplomatically responded. Dlamini was questioned if they were
still targetting the league title and he responded to the affirmative, but said
the goalless draw against Tinyosi did a lot of damage towards that. He also
affirmed a concern raised by a supporter on the club’s Facebook page that the
team was now training once a day at 8:30am until just after 10am yet games were
in the afternoon.
Rivals
Nonetheless, Dlamini said they were also aware that their rivals were also
coming up strong in the second round, citing Young Buffaloes particularly.
Highlanders play Denver Sundowns this weekend and then Buffaloes is the next
game. They beat Buffaloes 2-0 in the first round but Dlamini did not hide the
fact that their standards had drastically dropped in terms of play and it should
worry them. Kgomongwe admitted that the club’s performance was a huge concern
to him and he was worried because the ambition was one – to win the league and
head to the TOTALEnergies CAF Champions League 2022/23. However, he would not
get into details at the moment, saying Highlanders was not a one-man show. Sly
denied there were concerns or any meetings concerning the club’s performance
when questioned. There was no immediate comment from the players as those sought
asked not to comment at this point.