With three three rounds of fixtures to go in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, the race for promotion has got even more interesting.
After this past weekend's fixtures, Cape Town Spurs have further boosted their chances of a return to the topflight of Mzansi football, following their impressive 2-0 win over Platinum City Rovers at Athlone Stadium on Friday.
The Mother City outfit's closest rivals in the race Casric Stars won 1-0 against the University of Pretoria, third placed Polokwane City drew 2-2 against JDR Stars.
Going into the next round of fixtures, Spurs are at the top of the second tier league although they are tied on 53 points with Casric but with a superior goal difference of three goals, while Polokwane are on 51 points and in third place.
The Siya crew spoke to former Dynamos player Thamsanqa Tibe who is also involved in coaching these days to discuss this season's promotion race.
The Good
"The way I see it, Cape Town Spurs have a good chance of winning automatic promotion this season. In these closing stages of the season, Spurs have been the most consistent of the teams vying for promotion the way I see them and that's why I believe they have a chance of winning automatic promotion. Polokwane City and Casric Stars haven't been consistent for me and I think they could make mistakes along the way. Even with the way they play and looking at their remaining fixtures, I think Spurs have a very good chance of getting promoted. With the way they have been playing, those three remaining fixtures are not difficult matches for them. With Polokwane City now two points behind in the race, that's already pressure for them and that's why I say they can make mistakes along the way. Another thing to take into consideration is that Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett has already led a club to promotion in his career when he did it with Golden Arrows a few seasons ago, so he's got the experience. I strongly believe that he will do it again," said Tibe.
The Bad
"My only concern in this whole thing is the system used in the promotion/relegation play-offs. I don't think it is fair to clubs from the Motsepe Foundation Championship. A team in second place on the log has done well throughout the season and only to lose out to a team that finished 17th in the PSL (DStv Premiership). Those teams in the second tier spend a lot of money and they operate on a shoestring budget. I don't understand why a team that finishes 17th in the PSL is getting another chance to remain in the league at the expense of a team that did well in the other league. It's unfair. A top tier team will always have an upper hand against a team from the second tier on many things. I'm talking about experience, budget, U23 rule and so on. Teams from the second tier are required to play their games during this season with a set number of U23 players and even if that rule doesn't apply during the play-offs, it's like starting a new thing altogether for them. That becomes a disadvantage for them," Gusheshe added, as Tibe is known in football circles.
The Ugly
"At the bottom of the log, I am not happy with what is happening to my former team Black Leopards. They are currently on 22 points and that's not good enough for a team to save their status. The way I see it, the club's boss David Thidiela is no longer as hands-on as he used to be. I don't think Leopards will manage to avoid relegation and it is so unfortunate for them. Maybe they are things they didn't do right which they will learn from. And even TTM, I don't see them avoiding the drop," concluded Tibe.
Who Is Your Money On For Promotion?
