Who would have thought that the mighty FN Rangers, who narrowly missed out on promotion to the pro structures of the Motsepe Foundation Championship First Division last season, would be cut down to size in this manner?
Alas! It is still early days which is exactly what Rangers’ head coach Arreshaat Daniels would preach to his champion side.
Saatjie as Daniels is called, is somewhat just as surprised as the club’s fans and even their rivals following their laboured start to the season in defence of their maiden league title they won during the previous campaign.
Needless to say, there were expectations that the Maitland-based outfit would have kicked on this season to go all the way after they fell short at the playoffs in Upington last season, however, this has not been the case as they have been performing well below par resulting in a eighth position (from 12 teams) in Stream A with two wins, four draws and one loss from seven matches thus far.
Daniels need not be reminded of their shortcomings and is well aware that they are a mere shadow of themselves. The former Santos stalwart stated that there are plausible reasons for their current woes.
“It’s been extremely challenging to replace the quality and experienced players we’ve lost. Be that as it may, they have moved on to a bigger stage and it was good for their careers,” Daniels stated to No Bones with Jones. “We’ve lost mostly Unders, which has always been a valuable asset to the club.”
Daniels further explained: “The rebuilding process has been more difficult than anticipated. The new recruits have to settle in still and adapt to our philosophy, hence the slow start to the season.
“However, we believe we’ve recruited well and will overcome this hurdle and are looking forward to our first game back after the recess,” Daniels concluded.
Rangers will undoubtedly be put to the test early on in the new year when they welcome the high-flying and impressive Vasco da Gama to their Royal Road fortress on 18 January for their postponed fixture which was cancelled due to Vasco’s cup commitments – followed by another humdinger against coach Mangaliso Ntombana’s Grassy Park United who pushed Rangers till the end in the title race last season.
Rangers is still awaiting confirmation from Safa Western Cape if the fixture against Vasco will happen on 18 January.
These two games could set the tone for Daniels and Rangers and possibly the catalyst to go on and regain their champion form displayed last season – some might even say it is make or break in these two games given the fact that they are already nine points of the log leaders Zizwe United who has been one game more than Rangers.
