DURBAN – AmaZulu have suspended five of their senior players because of the negative attitude they’ve been displaying over the past few months.
Independent Media was reliably informed that Usuthu have suspended Lehlohonolo Majoro, Jabulani Ncobeni, Michael Morton, Thembela Sikhakhane and Nhlanhla Vilakazi.
“Yes, it is true that these five players you’ve mentioned have been suspended,” a source confirmed.
“They are no longer training with the team. They were complaining that they are not given a chance but they got it this past weekend. What did they do? They failed to make an impact. You expect more from them. They were called and informed that they are not fired but they have to train on their own until further notice.”
Usuthu were trounced 4-1 by Bloemfontein Celtic in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup last weekend.
Another source also confirmed that these five seasoned players had been shifted away from the team because of their negativity.
“You can call all of them, they won’t take the blame. Some are complaining that they are playing out of position. Some are complaining that the coach is playing youngsters. You expect positive input from these players. But they are not giving the team that. They are coming with negative remarks.
Obviously, the Nedbank Cup wasn’t very important for us but we expected more from them because they’ve been complaining about lack of game time,” the source elaborated.
Usuthu are fighting for their Premiership lives as they are second from the bottom on the log with 20 points.
Team manager Qedi Dlamini confirmed that they’ve not fired the players.
“We are not firing them. They were not moved aside because they are not in our plans. We wanted our medical department to focus on them. Remember, these are seasoned players who do not have age on their side,” Dlamini explained.
Usuthu take on Lamontville Golden Arrows at Jonsson Kings Park in a Premiership derby on Saturday (8.15pm kick-off).
“A decision was taken that it will be difficult for them to play two or three games in a row. We took a decision of setting up a special training session for them separately. They won’t be considered for selection for our upcoming game against Arrows. They won’t train with the main team up until we get a report from the medical team regarding an update on their progress, “ Dlamini added.
“Their programme will be well taken care of by our head of medical Joshua Smith.”