Absence of ace striker cost us game, says Young Stars coach
ALEXANDRA – Indiscipline among players of Norwood Young Stars costs them the game against Seven Stars and their unbeaten streak while at the same time threatening to tear apart the high-riding squad.
Norwood Young Stars coach lamented the absence of ace striker Osi Miniru, who was reportedly in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on trials with an unnamed ABC Motsepe League side, during their game against Seven Stars.
A near fist fight almost erupted between the players who had a heated argument over the type of play exhibited in the game, with the blame game being passed from player to player.
Some players even went as far as bemoaning the absence of Miniru and accused those selected for the Seven Stars game as ‘lame ducks’, making no bones about their preferred choice of a striker in the squad.
Amidst the chaos and shouting that erupted after the game, coach Valentine Eze, whose team is mainly made up of West African nationals living in Johannesburg, said most of his players do not perform when Miniru is not part of the team.
“This is what they’re fighting about. Some don’t like other players and some say they cannot play with others while some lament the absence of Miniru, whom they consider as their panacea for the goal-scoring problems.
“I wonder what they will do if Miniru manages to secure a contract with the team he is currently having trials with,” Eze said, adding that he was not sure of the name of the team, but just that it was a team playing in the ABC Motsepe League.
Eze said he had a big task awaiting him, to motivate and instil discipline in his fragmented squad. “I will have a long and serious man-to-man chat with them as a group and later as individuals in order to iron out the misunderstandings that now threaten our phenomenal success in the league,” Eze said.
Seven Stars coach, Patrick Hlayisiwa Mabasa said the result against this tough team was a result of hard work the boys had put in training and sticking to the coach’s instructions and maintaining the formation of the game.
Seven Stars currently lie in position nine of the log with 16 points from 14 games, and the win against Young Stars will increase their points total to 19 but will remain at the same position in the log.
