Santos coach Roger Fortune has described the acquisition of Rabian Beukes as a “breath of fresh air.”
According to Fortune, Rabian – who was playing in the (lower) Third Division with Silver Spurs – is a player that he has been eyeing for a long time.
“I have been watching him for the past two or three seasons,” Fortune explains to No Bones with Jones.
”I think he needs the break to test himself and to see if he can go much further. His signing with us is a breath of fresh air as he has leadership qualities on and off the field. He stamps his authority wherever he goes. Even the friendlies we played recently our technical team were quite impressed with him as well” Fortune added.
Our website has established that Beukes’ former Silver Spurs teammate Ameen Awaldien is also on Santos’ radar, but Fortune was rather tight-lipped about a potential capture of the goal-hungry striker.
”There are one or two other experienced players that we are looking at to complete the puzzle and to beef up a few positions as we have most of the youngsters or the ‘Unders’ as they say. We have the core of the ‘Unders’ of last season.”
”Unfortunately, I cannot divulge anything further until I have the papers in my hands and I hope you understand. I will say that there are still a few holes we need to close, but we can’t wait for the season to start,” he added.
The People’s Team, as Santos is known, has their work cut out for them as they have been drawn in Stream A, along with Ikapa United, Hanover Park FC, Ubuntu FC, FN Rangers and the defending champion, Young Bafana.
Fortune, who previously had huge success in the amateur ranks with Young Pirates, admitted that with the shortened version of the Motsepe campaign (split into two streams) it will be important for him as a coach to set certain goals for the “mini-tournament.”
“It is every coach’s goal or plan with small goals winning five games, then taking it to three games and then taking it to another three games. So you put out three goals like your first three games, nine points, first five games 12 or 11 points. So you target which games you will be able to get maximum points, like your home games and stuff like that. Maybe certain away games and work for that,” Fortune concluded.
Santos will kick off their season on 16 October with the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash against FN Rangers at Maitland Royal Road Sports Complex.
