JOHANNESBURG - Siphelele Ntshangase has promised to deliver a “champagne pass” - one of his many traits as an attacking midfielder - when he finally makes his Kaizer Chiefs debut against Polokwane City on Saturday night.
Sounds a tad arrogant, but that is actually what Amakhosi have lacked in the two and a half years that there has been no trophy.
The middle of the park has lacked that killer pass, a link for the strikers to get the job done, although even coach Steve Komphela admitted this week that Chiefs also acquired the services of striker Leonardo Castro because they don’t have a target man who stays in the box.
Whoever he has it his disposal - Bernard Parker, Gustavo Paez and young Ryan Moon - drifts to the wings, the coach argued.
“I’ve been given clear instructions by the coach about my role,” Ntshangase, who signed for Chiefs from Baroka FC last week, said.
“It’s not easy playing for Chiefs, especially if they are not winning trophies.
"I honestly think what has been missing in the last two seasons is the killer pass, the champagne pass.
"I feel I am 80 percent fit because I haven’t played a lot since recovering from my injury.”
That’s not the only reason Ntshangase lacks match fitness.
The whole truth is that he didn’t want to be a Baroka player anymore.
“I made it clear as far back as 2015 that I wanted to play for Chiefs,” he revealed, but his dream was put on hold by Black Leopards chairman David Thidiela, who sold him to Baroka for R2-million at the start of the season even though he’d have more than doubled the price when Amakhosi showed interest in the player.
Ntshangase becomes a Khosi!
Kaizer Chiefs would like to announce the arrival of another attacking midfielder, Siphelele Ntshangase from Baroka FC on a two and a half year deal with the option to extend his stay with Amakhosi for one year.
Welcome to the Family! #KCOneTeam pic.twitter.com/D5HNyV24ym
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) January 4, 2018
Does the fact that he is now playing for a team he’d publicly declared his love for three years ago put him under immediate pressure?
“Not at all,” said Ntshangase.
“I have never been in this kind of situation, where I have so much competition.
"I now have to work extremely hard and that is what any player wants in their career.
"Leopards are struggling right now because they depended on me for too long and didn’t have a replacement when they eventually let me go.
"I am happy here and my family is happy.
"But it’s time to work now that the dream has finally become a reality.”
The move to Naturena is also a way to revive Ntshangase’s career seeing that it has somewhat stalled because of injury and the fact that he did not capitalise on his Bafana Bafana debut three years ago.
He lingered for too long in the National First Division with Leopards.
“I think everything has it’s own time. And if you ask about my injury, it took me a while to realise that maybe my life can change as a result,” said Ntshangase.
“There are a lot of these types of challenges in life. I am hoping that I can push myself to reach those heights again. This is a different challenge, but I am ready.”
@superjourno