Ordinarily, this time of the football season would be about which of the traditional top-three teams are best placed to win the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship. But these are far from ordinary times.
Only two of the 11 titles since the formation of the PSL in the 1996/97 season have been won by a team other than Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs.
In both of those instances, Gordon Igesund managed the unfashionable Manning Rangers in 1996/97 and Santos in 2001/02.
Today Igesund, South Africa’s most successful coach and the man who guided Sundowns to their last title, is unemployed. Apart from titles with Sundowns, he was at the helm when Pirates won their first title in the 2000/01 season.
It increasingly appears that not all, if any, of the three teams that have dominated the PSL honours will make it to the top eight of the log. Pirates are sixth; Chiefs are 11th on the log. Sundowns — the most successful PSL team yet with five championships, including the past two — languish at ninth. Only three points separate the sides and there remains a possibility that they could end the season ensconced on the top half of the log and thus able to defend their Top Eight trophy at the start of the next season.
Stranger for those accustomed to the rule of the triumvirate, is that teams such as Supersport United, Ajax Cape Town and Santos are wise bets to be crowned champions come May.
The anomaly does not end there either. This weekend, either Mpumalanga Aces or Nathi Lions could make it to the last four of the country’s premier knockout competition, the Nedbank Cup.
Sundowns, finalists in the last cup final of the same tournament (then sponsored by Absa) take on FC Cape Town in what could be the last effort to give meaning to their season.
The prospects of Black Leopards avoiding relegation are equal to those of Robert Mugabe announcing that the Movement for Democratic Change was clear winner of the elections. No further discussions should be entertained.
Sundowns hope to redeem a truly miserable season. They take on a resurgent AmaZulu team whose proud history and tradition is hampered by the schizophrenic nature of its players.
But the match of the round should be between Free State Stars and Santos. Santos seemed dead and buried halfway through the season, but have been resurrected. They are positioned third on the log and are the best placed team to win the ”double” — the league championship and the premier cup tournament.
Free State Stars have played with gusto and have given a solid performance that belied their debut to the premiership this season. For the better part of the season, they seemed credible challengers for the league title.
There is a common understanding that football is cyclical. One of the top teams invariably goes through a rough patch. The state of affairs has caused uncertainty in the sports departments of newsrooms, especially those based in Johannesburg. The biggest football story of the year continues to be about who is not achieving, rather than what the underdogs are accomplishing.
Maybe there is nothing wrong with the so-called powerhouses. Perhaps we are witnessing the end of an era, but we are too used to our ways to acknowledge that.