Opinion: – TTM owner Mulaudzi is the king of denial but his club is a total mess

I was fascinated to see the latest quotes from Masala Mulaudzi, the owner of Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, this time in response to reports on Tuesday that the Limpopo side’s players had gone on strike because of unpaid salaries.

“There are people who want to see the team going down, people who are so bitter,” Mulaudzi told Sowetan Live while denying that any of his players were not paid on time.

This is not the first time Mulaudzi  has taken a sort of  ‘everyone is out to get us’ attitude with regards to his club.

“You must keep doubting, we will prove you right,” he said to someone, in what was actually a brilliant slip of the tongue (“We will prove you right,”, as TTM unveiled a host of new players ahead of the season, several of whom did not actually end up joining the club.

Brian Onyango, Augustine Mulenga and Gustavo Paez were all in TTM’s squad that they unveiled in October, but none are with the team.

My question to these sorts of generalisations from the owner is, who exactly is out to get TTM? It can’t be the PSL, who allowed this deal to go through, when the GladAfrica Championship side purchased the status of Bidvest Wits to gain a place in the top flight.

Whether you like the franchise system or not in the PSL, it is here to say, but you can’t tell me due diligence was done on the approval this sale.  Bidvest, it appears, couldn’t wait to get rid of Wits, prepared to sell up short and sharpish, not even bothering to worry about letting the club have its centenary year

This all seems like a rushed deal, pushed through via desperation in a Covid-19-battered economy, and this idea is only enhanced by  shambles that TTM have been, off the field, up to now.  The signs were there. There were already salary issues with TTM when they were in the GladAfrica Championship , so we can’t exactly be too surprised they are here again.

Oupa Manyisa was signed and then not announced in the final squad, but the club are still trying to sort that out, apparently not realising that if you sign a contract with someone, you can’t just let them go without compensation.

TTM were in such a state that they could only field three players on their bench for their MTN8 quarterfinal against SuperSport United at the start of the campaign.

Joel Masutha’s side have actually exceeded expectations on the pitch, holding Mamelodi Sundowns and getting a first win, beating Baroka FC, which they followed with another point at Chippa. But their criticism isn’t down to anyone being out to get them. It’s down to poor, unprepared administration, and a football club run like this, whatever the results on the pitch, is a recipe for disaster.

Mr Mulaudzi would be better off owning up to his side’s unprofessionalism, rather than blaming everyone else, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

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