The ABC Motsepe League is no laughing matter!
And the league’s most recent casualty Antalyaspor can certainly testify to this.
Justin Paulsen (owner, pictured)), who owned Clarewood JPM’s (Antalyaspor JPM CT) Second Division status three seasons ago, had such huge and ambitious plans for the club – especially when he orchestrated a merger with the Turkish Pro League side Antalyaspor two seasons ago which sent out a massive statement in the Mother City and beyond.
Alas! Paulsen again caused shockwaves but this time when he sold his club’s second division status to the Hollywoodbets Third Division club Seaside Spurs coached by former Bafana Bafana striker Gerald Stober.
The deal included an exchange of statuses with Antalyaspor buying their status plus a cash amount in the region of R170 000.
No Bones with Jones can confirm that this brought the total in the region of R9 million Paulsen ‘invested’ in his club since he took charge.
However, this was not capitalised on forcing him to throw in the towel as it has become financially just too taxing.
Football is a business, and the savvy forex trader businessman is educated enough to know when to cut one’s losses – hence he decided to pursue another strategy.
Our website has gathered that there will be a paradigm shift to the junior structures and academy trying to emulate what the now defunct Ajax Cape Town did so successfully with a monthly contribution of R130 000 which must be used to pay the coach and to run the academy.
The idea is to send talented ones to Europe and there are already a few under-18’s lined-up for trials.
This approach and shift in my opinion is because Paulsen was let down by his lieutenants like Bevan Dicks and Sean Ferrier who the best made some bizarre and questionable recruitments.
The biggest and most damning mistake made by the club was to give Ashraf Calvert the boot who in my view was on the right trajectory with the club.
Calvert had talented and experienced players who believed in him hence it came as no surprise when they won the Nedbank Cup regional title two seasons ago at Bredasdorp’s Glaskasteel Sportfield.
To think this was all done with a budget of R1 million in the first season after they bought the status of Young Pirates for R450 000.
What was surprising is what followed subsequently when the Wynberg-based club fired Calvert and replaced him with Dylan Deane after qualifying for the Nedbank Cup last 32 with the big fish where they lost to Mpheni Home Defenders (0-3) in Deane’s first game in charge.
The irony to this move is that Calvert went in the opposite direction to fill the vacant position at Young Bafana FC is Strand where Deane was coaching.
To rub salt into Calvert’s previous employer, he went on to steer Bafana to a maiden league title against all odds.
