The Absa Premiership gets underway within a fortnight but already newly promoted Black Leopards and Jomo Cosmos are being touted as likely candidates to return to the second tier of South African football at the end of the season.
Traditionally clubs coming from the lower division find it extremely hard to adapt to the rigours of Premiership football. They literally find themselves thrown into the fast lane and struggle throughout the season to negotiate their way around the sharp curves of the race course and by the time they settle into cruise mode all the other drivers have passed the finish line.
Former Bafana Bafana captain and now Thanda Royal Zulu coach Neil Tovey, said it boiled down to two things — finance and players. He said teams coming from the lower division usually do not have the same resources as the premiership clubs and they will always play catch-up.
“Premiership clubs receive monthly grants of R1-million a month,” said Tovey. “Compare that to the R200 000 received by first division teams and there is no question that promoted teams start on the back foot. They lack financial resources as well as infrastructure.
“Although both Leopards and Cosmos have been in the premiership before, they will be starting on the back foot. It is going to be a huge jump for them and although it’s difficult to say that they will be relegated at the end of the season, before the campaign has even started, I think it’s obvious to many people who will struggle.”
Cosmos owner Jomo Sono has earned a reputation as the finest talent spotter this country has ever produced. Sadly, he has sold some of his most valuable players either to Gauteng’s top teams or to the European market and this has come back to haunt him.
“Cosmos do not have the kind of financial backing enjoyed by other teams,” Sono has said in the past, “and so if a very good offer is put on the table, we will naturally not sniff at it but will consider it very seriously. This is how we have managed to survive.”
Critics argue that it is impossible for Sono to be both owner and coach of the club and expect to succeed.
Leopards surprised a lot of people when they qualified for the Nedbank Cup final, but went down narrowly 3-1 to Orlando Pirates after taking an early lead and then holding their own against the league champions.
Their achievement earned them the right to compete in the CAF Confederation Cup, something no team from the lower tier of South African football has ever achieved.
“It is true that teams coming from the lower division usually struggle to adjust to the elite division,” said Leopards team manager Sam Kgaphathe. “But we have come to realise that a happy bunch of players will do everything to fight for the honour of the team.”
Kgaphathe said the mistake made by many teams that gained promotion was to dismantle their squad and assemble a completely new team. In his view, sticking with the same players that have won promotion is the key to success, but the players must be looked after financially.
“I have discovered that acquiring players with so-called experience is normally not the right way to go about doing business. However, the same players who are still unknown and want to make a name for themselves in the elite division, if their financial needs are taken care of, they are capable of carrying the team.”
Leopards have retained most of the core of the team that won promotion to the elite division and managed to hold on to two key players — striker Rodney Ramagalela and attacking midfielder and captain Mongezi Bobe — who were both courted by Gauteng’s top sides.
However, they could not hold on to holding midfielder and Malawian international Robert N’Gambi, who helped the club regain their premiership status but then jumped ship and joined Platinum Stars.
Leopards moved swiftly to recruit a direct replacement for N’Gambi, ironically signing a man who keeps N’Gambi on the bench in the Malawian national team — Dave Banda — who was also wanted by Egyptian side Zamalek.
Leopards travel to Bloemfontein on Sunday to feature in the annual Old Mutual Mangaung Cup. They line up against Ajax Cape Town and Bloemfontein Celtic face Moroka Swallows in the second match of the double-header programme.