Johannesburg – The University of Pretoria’s descent from the top flight to the second tier in domestic football has been long coming.
Even before the season began, indications were there that the men from Hatfield would be plying their trade in the National First Division.
Tuks’ relegation from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) may have been confirmed when Highlands Park won the Absa Premiership play-offs last week, but they had been sharpening the axe that chopped them for a while now.
Since their promotion to the PSL, Tuks have had challenges that pointed to lack of decisive leadership.
There are questions about the honchos in charge of the Tuks team led by chief executive Rendani Mulaudzi, pictured.
As an academic, Mulaudzi, whose name is preceded by the title Dr, is second to none – but he could be faulted for lacking the decisiveness and shrewdness possessed by other club bosses such Mato Madlala, Kaizer Motaung, Irvin Khoza, Mike Mokoena and others.
Under Mulaudzi’s leadership, Tuks failed to establish a working system to secure their status in the PSL.
In their first season they surprised all and sundry by reaching the top eight with Steve Barker at the helm.
But then, at the end of that season, they lost key players in Mame Niang, Bongani Zungu and Aubrey Ngoma.
The trio were responsible for 50percent of the goals Tuks scored that season.
Tuks’ biggest mistake was their failure to replace them. They suffered dearly as they lacked in creativity on the pitch.
Seasons later saw the departure of solid defender Buhle Mkhwanazi, defender Siyabonga Shoyisa, striker Geofrey Massa, midfielder Mpho Matsi and other players.
Once again Tuks failed to find suitable replacements for these men. This has contributed immensely to their fall.
Even their recruitments have failed to live up to expectation. Recently the players they have signed didn’t inspire confidence.
Thabiso Nkoana, Lennox Bacela and a host of others have not set the scene alight since their arrival.
The loss of form of several key players such as Thabo Mnyamane has not done them good. Add to that speculation that Mnyamane was on the wanted list of many teams.
On the pitch Tuks have never been inspirational. They have lacked identity. They played a certain format under Barker, Sammy Troughton and Shaun Bartlett. This had confused players.
This season, they lacked direction under Troughton.
One of the most horrendous matches was when they lost 1-0 to Bidvest Wits at home.
Their performance did not resonate with a PSL team. Troughton persisted with a team that did not produce results.
Though certain players were not performing, Troughton did not drop them.
The Tuks management also took too long to fire Troughton. His departure and that of his assistant Sly Mosala three months later affected the progress of the club.
The chopping and changing of coaches also lowered the moral among players.
The transition from Troughton to Bartlett was not easy. Troughton was laid back while Bartlett demanded a lot out of players. Bartlett wanted players to take responsibility and be at their best no matter the results. The space and time for change was not conducive as the team was already fighting relegation.
Bartlett tried to resuscitate the side. In certain areas he revived them – but he just couldn’t get the defence right.
With Bartlett, an erstwhile prolific scorer, Tuks scored a number of goals but they would undo their efforts with below-par defence.
The strength of any team is in defence. Bartlett also found the players’ levels of fitness at an undesirable point. He was forced to increase the intensity of the club’s training and as such the result was not good as some players didn’t respond well. Some took time to recover.
Tuks also failed to recruit players during the transfer window in January. Two signings they made in Innocent Nemukondeni and Ian Chikovha breathed some life into Tuks but it was too late to establish good combinations.
In the play-offs, Tuks disappointed as they failed to score goals in losses to Mbombela United and Highlands Park.
So overall Tuks will need an overhaul to bounce back.
With Bartlett there’s hope. That’s if the former Bafana Bafana striker is given time and resources to build a team like he did with Golden Arrows a season ago. Tuks are a case study of what happens when you take time to embrace change.