Johannesburg - To beef up or not to beef up? That is the standard question asked of any NFD club that gains promotion to the elite league and on Sunday it was a questioned that flew about deep in the bowels of the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
And the varying answers given by the senior personnel of Baroka FC suggested it was perhaps too early of the newshounds to go there when the team was still in celebratory mood.
Club owner Khurishi Mphahlele spoke of how his team could take on the might of the Absa Premiership’s best without going into the market, while coach Kgoloko Thobejane was of the view he needed five new players.
As they jostled with excited well-wishers - most of whom continuously shook their hands in congratulations somewhat oblivious to the fact the two were being interviewed just outside the team’s dressing room - Mphahele and Thobejane expressed confidence Baroka will not do a Jomo Cosmos and visit the elite league for a single season.
And, said Mphahlele, they will not have to call on the services of experienced PSL campaigners to do so.“If we start (playing in the Premiership) tomorrow, we would use the same team and we will definitely collect points. I am very happy with the way the boys have handled themselves in the Nedbank Cup and in the league.
So, I think I will keep the bulk of the boys and see if we later need to add some talent or experience there.”Not even the departure of top scorer Thabiso Kutumela for Orlando Pirates seems to have Mphahlele worried.
“Thabiso is a fantastic boy; he is a goal scorer,” he admitted to the quality of the striker he himself spotted five years ago in Podingoane just ouside Lebowakgomo
“He is the best player in the NFD. But I don’t think it will be difficult to replace him. We’ve got a lot of young boys in our SAB team (Safa's regional league which acts as the fourth division) and in the province. We just need to give them time to settle in. I think a boy like (Thabiso) Makgaka can fit in that position of Thabiso.
”Thobejane on the other hand is of the view he will need to augment the squad for the rigours of elite league football.
“We’ve got a very good squad and we showed in the Nedbank Cup that we can compete with the top teams.
But we will need maybe five players to strengthen the squad. I can’t tell you now which positions we will be looking at, but we will have to get a handful of players.
”He faces a tough challenge convincing his club to dig deep into their pockets, especially considering that strengthening a promoted team with experienced campaigners from other PSL clubs is the common practice.
The Star