AmaTuks’ downfall - selling gems for profit
Mazola Molefe asks: should AmaTuks avoid relegation, wouldn’t that simply be a case of merely postponing the inevitable?
|||Shaun Bartlett will go into the final day of the Absa Premiership season desperate to help University of Pretoria pull off the great escape, having failed to achieve that feat three years ago with Golden Arrows.
The former Bafana Bafana striker might well produce the goods or relegate Tuks and bring them back a year later like he did with Arrows.
Should AmaTuks stay up, wouldn’t that simply be a case of merely postponing the inevitable? Bartlett, sadly, is a scapegoat here. The club management dug its own grave because this disastrous run - which could end in the drop to the National First Division next Saturday - has been long coming. The recruitment policy at AmaTuks and the way resources are spread across the university campus tells a grimacing story.
Unless things change, it’s not hard to predict the club will be battling to avoid relegation yet again come next season. It takes a lot of hard work to hold on to your Premier League status, and AmaTuks, to be frank, have done little to prioritise that.
They gained promotion in 2012 under then coach Steve Barker, who outlined his plans to make sure they remain in the top-flight. But it appears management weren’t on the same page, with AmaTuks quickly becoming a selling club. They have made little effort to replace players like Bongani Zungu, Buhle Mkhwanazi, Grant Kekana and Geofrey Massa.
Sure, PSL players are overpriced these days, but somehow AmaTuks have forgotten the basics and have lost their unique touch to scout emerging talent. Where did they find those gems that were eventually sold for millions?
The above players were shipped out for major profit not long after their promotion to the PSL.
Bongani Khumalo, George Maluleka, Andile Jali, Mthokozisi Yende and Phenyo Mongala are among the jewels AmaTuks hit the jackpot with even while they were still in the trenches of the lower divisions.
The Nedbank Cup, which sees NFD sides take onPremier League counterparts, was instrumental in helping the Tshwane outfit out of oblivion following their giant-killing sprees in 2009. Barker and his men reached the final only to suffer a narrow 1-0 defeat to Moroka Swallows.
Seven years later, Tuks are a shadow of that bold and incredibly gifted side as they face the axe, having lost the plot in more ways than one. There is hope, however.
Firstly, the AmaTuks hierarchy, which includes intelligent and well-travelled professors at the university, I would imagine, have to rethink their strategy as to what kind of club they should be. Are they a selling club or do they want to compete and win trophies?
Secondly, resources have to be divided evenly on campus. Cricket, rugby and athletics cannot continue to be given special attention - as well as financial backing - when the football team compete in one of the richest leagues in Africa and rub shoulders with some of the best clubs on the continent. Getting AmaTuks to lure lucrative investors and quality players would be easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Their brand is eye-catching as a university football team but the mentality at the institution might be wired more to build academies and hope to continue with the status quo - producing rookies scattered across the country.
Bidvest Wits, another university side in the PSL, tried that model for years and it failed. It is not a coincidence that, over the years, Wits have gone from a mid-table side to one eager to lift the championship some day. And this was perhaps triggered by relegation, with the Clever Boys spending the 2005/06 season in the NFD.
They have since gone on to lure Bidvest as a backer and, although he is without a trophy in three years since arriving, three-time league winner Gavin Hunt is currently the head coach. They were clear about the way forward, and AmaTuks can learn it - if they survive the chop. - Saturday Star
*Follow Mazola Molefe on Twitter @superjourno