Two of South Africa’s greatest football talents to have emerged in the past decade face bleak futures due to limited game time for their club.
SuperSport duo Thabo Qalinge and Thabo Mnyamane are likely to join the statistics as gifted players that never realised their full potential.
Qalinge joined Matsatsantsa A Pitori in the middle of the season from Orlando Pirates. The winger is yet to repeat the exploits he displayed at Pirates. Mnyamane’s career has been hampered by injuries.
SuperSport chief executive Stanley Matthews said the duo haven’t done enough to earn new deals.
“It is difficult for guys like Qalinge and Mnyamane because this was a time for them to put their hands up for a last chance to retain their contracts. They haven’t had a lot of game time and we have to make decisions for next season and those decisions were supposed to have been made by March 31. Obviously, because we haven’t carried on the way that we should do things, it is difficult to make those decisions now,” Matthews said.
Qalinge has featured in two games for SuperSport while Mnyamane has made three appearances.
“We’ve told these players if there are pre-contract opportunities for them we will accept it 100% (that they are leaving us).
“We are not in a position to say yes for next season before we know what happens this season. Are we going to finish third or fourth? We don’t know. It’s tight there. A couple of good results, we might finish in the top four and we might qualify for Africa for an example,” Matthews said, signalling the club might keep the two should they qualify for continental competition.
SuperSport are third on the log and on course to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup.
“If I qualify for Africa, I’m definitely going to need two or three players to beef up the squad. The question is, do I go out and find that talent? Or I say, is it better to stick with the talent that I have and I know. I know these guys, they’ve got good culture and discipline. Do I keep them because of that and that they haven’t played because of injuries? But I can only make that kind of a call when I know about my log position,” Matthews articulated.
“If I’m not in Africa, I don’t need to carry two or three extra players. Unfortunately, the three players who played the least are likely to be the players released. They are great players and great professionals. I’m pretty sure they are going to find contracts at some point and hopefully that will be still with us. But we are not in a position to make that commitment now."