Rookies in the beMobile Premiership League Security Systems are not leaving their newly acquired status anytime soon, so says Coach Thaloba Nthaga.
Speaking on the sidelines of the team’s re-launch and the unveiling of sponsors and new playing staff this past Friday, Nthaga said the side had done its ground work to ensure it maintains its elite league status.
“This team is ready. I am quite confident we have a good team that will actually ensure that we are still in this league next season,” the gaffer explained. Despite his confidence, the Security Systems coach is, however, under no illusions as to how hard his team will have to fight to ensure it does not get relegated.
“For a new team, the plan is just to go there, sustain and build for the second season. If you look at teams like Orapa and Galaxy, they never went into the league seeking to win it. They made sure they sustained their league status and continuously kept on improving. That is the approach we intend to take this season, to consolidate and next season we will add more quality to the team,” Nthaga explained.
To ensure the team is ready for the rigours of the elite league, Nthaga is aware he will have to tap into his experiences as a rookie coach in the Premier League. In the 2014/15 season, “Machine,” as Nthaga is affectionately known, was at the helm of the then newly promoted Letlapeng, a team which he had helped gain promotion from the first division.
However, following a bad start to the season, he packed his bags and left the team after just five games into the season after losing four games in a row.
Now returning for his second stint in the beMobile Premier League at the helm of another newly promoted team, Nthaga is a wiser man.
While he has kept the core of the team that helped Systems’s promotion to the elite league, he has roped in players with premier league skills to ensure that it settles well in the Premier League.
“If you look at the current team, almost the entire starting 11 from last season are still with us. What we then did is we signed those that could bring the much-needed Premier League experience. We were looking for a certain calibre of players; those who have played regularly or those with experience to help the team,” Nthaga explained. Among the experienced acquisitions are Mnqcini Sibanda, Tumelo Mazebedi, Osego Gaotewe and Kago Nfila, while the likes of Michael Pillar, Vincent Lekorwe and Kago Segokgo, though not very experienced, are expected to add quality to the side. Another addition to the team is Thulani Gumede from Ajax Hotspurs in Zimbabwe.
