Greenwood Athletic’s new head coach Brent Raven has conceded that he is facing the biggest and toughest test of his coaching career with the Third Division Club, adding he might have joined the club at the wrong time.
Raven was roped in from Rygersdal FC to change Greenwood’s fortunes by winning the league after his predecessor Lionel Miller fell short on a couple of occasions.
Needless to say, Raven comes with some pedigree following a very successful stint when he won the treble with Rygersdal in 2017.
With the start of the season a month away, Raven gave No Bones with Jones a sober assessment of the challenges that he is facing.
Needless to say, the Greenwood mentor has his work cut out for him as it is not as plain sailing as expected in his quest to achieve his mandate.
Raven explained: “Where we are now, I would say, no, we are not ready, but we still have a month left and we are hoping that the next four weeks that we have will be better than the previous four weeks, let’s put it that way.”
Raven admitted that one of the biggest losses is that of the former Santos pro player, Shaun Sopio, who apparently decided to hang up his boots.
“We were hoping he would change his mind as he is apparently very good at Greenwood you know, so, he is a loss for us,” Raven confirmed. “He is not the only player as I had challenges with others as well. I need to speak to him and let’s hope he still changes his mind as he is still very good.”
The Greenwood-mentor was brutally honest to No Bones with Jones admitting that his first couple of weeks in charge of the ‘Green Machine’ indicates that he could be in for a rough ride.
“We started over a month ago and there’s been a lot of challenges,” said Raven. “A few players aren’t playing anymore and as I have mentioned Shaun Sopio, one of their better players decided to pack up his boots. The captain is also still suspended,” said Raven.
Coupled with this, Raven has to deal with another headache whereby he has no remedy for the “crazy money” offered to his players and has to deal with the pain.
Raven is especially bitter about the fact that a young striker from Eagle Wings, Omar Arendse was “poached” from under his nose after ensuring that his necessary documentation is in order to make him eligible to play for the upcoming season.
“He is 17 (years old) and a very good striker who plays for Eagle Wings. He never had an ID and we at Greenwood took him to Home Affairs to sort out his ID as he didn’t have one due to the fact that he is not living with his mother but with his guardian. So, we did the papers to sort out his ID, took him for his photos, we did everything.
“Two weeks ago, he said he’s not coming back again and then we heard again that he is now at GP. So, that is just what it is. Apparently, Stellenbosch (FC) also wanted him, but he couldn’t afford the traveling and that was the reason he just stayed away,” Raven further added.
“Other players that have been registered and sorted out, they also left the club, some have gone to GP (Grassy Park) and some have gone to Cafda,” Raven further explains. “We have been preparing with a lot of players but the trials that Cafda had and the money that they are offering, the guys are just leaving, and we just lost a few players.
“This is a problem for us because Greenwood doesn’t pay the players, we don’t pay anyone. Some players left for GP and a few went to Cafda FC which is offering them crazy money and that is just where it is now. It is very challenging to put out a decent team together this season.”
Given this, Raven’s challenges with the Retreat-based club are compounded with the “Unders rule” which requires a juggling act of note.
“I would say we are 80% ready – we are just having a few problems with one or two ‘Unders’ because I don’t want to have a problem where we are playing an ‘Under’ for five or 10 minutes and we bring him off. I explained to them if that is the case then I am not going to play the ‘Under’ or put him in the squad.
“I don’t want to be like previous years because I am just damaging the player if I do that – and it is not what I want to do, you know. A lot of clubs play them for five minutes and pull off their ‘Unders’ and that is definitely not what I want to do because I am there to build a player also. And If I do that, I am not building him but putting him down and you would think that he is not a good footballer.
“So, that is the thing I am working on getting ‘Unders’ that can give me 60 minutes at least, you know what I am saying. That is why they brought in the under-rule. Giving him five minutes and taking him off is breaking him down and not developing anyone. “So, it is very challenging, as it is not something I am used to doing. We coached where you can play anybody and now you need to have that in mind as well,” Raven concluded.
