And how the tables have turned on Zizwe United.
It is unheard of for Zizwe, the former powerhouse of the ABC Motsepe League, to walk out onto a pitch as underdogs – but that has been the reality for the former three-time champions this season as they have considerably dropped down the pecking order in the Second Division – for obvious reasons.
A lot has changed since last season when they went toe-to-toe with the defending champion, Young Bafana who is actually in a similar position as the Nyanga-based outfit.
The main reason is that Zizwe’s franchise was up for sale which led to a lot of uncertainty and ultimately a mass exodus of players.
Zizwe’s manager Mike Siheke said their struggles this season this is no secret and was to be expected with the changes at the club.
“Look, the conversation before the season started was to let us go in there and try and save our status,” Siheke told No Bones with Jones. “We released the players who wanted to go to other clubs and we got younger players to give them as much exposure as we could. So, there is no pressure or any expectations to achieve success this season.
“We are just there to compete as best we can and to honour our fixtures, you know. It is not a secret that we are not the same as in previous seasons. We said let us do our best and told the players to enjoy themselves,” Siheke added.
Zizwe (5 points), who currently occupies the sixth position from nine teams in Stream B with just one win from five matches, will draw comfort from the fact that other teams like City Kings, Oriented Birds (both 4 points) and last-placed Batalions FC (Inter Africa Academy, 0 points) are currently worse off and could be their saving grace from relegation.
“Yes, we are not the only struggling club in the stream, but we are only focussed on ourselves,” Bra Mike, as Siheke is known, pointed out.
Zizwe travel to Stellenbosch’s Lentulus Sports ground to face the high-flying Maties FC in a league encounter on Saturday afternoon.
Maties are obviously the favourites but not just due to Zizwe’s current woes, but because the Maties have improved and matured immensely under coach Desmond Crowie. They are also, along with Antalyaspor Cape Town City (Clarewood JPM), the favourites to win this stream and challenge for the league title.
Crowie has already led the students to glory in the Nedbank Cup after they won the regional title following their surprise victory against FN Rangers in the final.
Siheke is fully aware of the mismatch between the two teams when they line up against the home side.
“Therefore we are not putting any pressure on the boys to perform any miracles on the day so let’s see how it goes,” Siheke pointed concluded.”
