The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is calling it Super Saturday, but for either Moroka Swallows or AmaZulu, and to some extent Chippa United, there’ll be nothing super about this afternoon should they fail to survive relegation from the elite league.
The smart money is on Swallows going down for the first time in their history, given that they need not only to beat Bloemfontein Celtic, but also hope for favourable results in other matches to stay afloat.
And with their coach literally having left it all up to his players following Wednesday night’s last-minute defeat at Ajax Cape Town, there’s every indication that Swallows will walk onto the pitch at the Dobsonville Stadium a deflated lot.
Speaking after the 2-1 loss that sent them to the bottom spot after AmaZulu’s victory at the University of Pretoria, Swallows’ coach Craig Rosslee lamented his team’s failure to defend high balls against what he felt was much shorter opposition.
And then he uttered the words that may well spell Swallows’ death-knell: “What I am going to do is irrelevant. (Of course) I will do what any coach will do, but the players now have to find the strength within themselves to get the result.”
Granted a coach can only do so much to motivate his team. But since taking over at Swallows, Rosslee’s language hasn’t inspired confidence. He made similar pronouncements after the draw with SuperSport United and the one at the University of Pretoria – essentially kicking the ball into the players’ court.
Yet when a club is in the kind of doldrums that Swallows were in when he took over, what the players need to hear is that their coach believes he is the man to save them.
Talk like the one Steve Barker has been churning out since he joined an Usuthu side that was, for all intents and purposes, relegated as they trailed by no less than 15 points at the halfway stage.
Barker was at it after the come-from-behind win over AmaTuks as he spoke of how he believes his team have it in them to beat a Maritzburg United side chasing a top-eight spot.
“I’ve been telling them we have matches from which we can save our status and I told them ‘let’s go down fighting’. Now it’s so nice to hear them singing,” he said in an interview at the Tuks Stadium as his players celebrated a victory that took them off the bottom in song.
Could it perhaps be that difference of attitude from the coaches that makes a difference in the two clubs’ fortunes this afternoon. Barker’s ‘can do’ outlook has already done wonders to ensure that AmaZulu are still in with a chance of avoiding the drop going into the last matchday of the season.
In turn, Rosslee looks to have already washed his hands of a Swallows’ demise. In some of his post-match interviews, he spoke of how poor the team spirit has been all season, even before he took over. All that will count for nothing this afternoon, though, with both sides needing to win and hoping Chippa get nothing from their clash with Kaizer Chiefs.
And that will be super – for whoever manages to avoid the chop.
FIXTURES: Today (all 3pm): Mamelodi Sundowns v University of Pretoria, Lucas Moripe Stadium; Moroka Swallows v Bloemfontein Celtic, Dobsonville Stadium; Ajax Cape Town v Orlando Pirates, Cape Town Stadium; Free State Stars v Mpumalanga Black Aces, Goble Park; AmaZulu v Maritzburg United, Moses Mabhida Stadium; Bidvest Wits v Platinum Stars, Bidvest Stadium; Polokwane City v SuperSport United, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium; Chippa United v Kaizer Chiefs, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - Saturday Star