Premiership wrap: ninth to 12th spots

UNTIL the last few matches the teams that finished just outside the top eight were serious relegation candidates. But the contest for positions in the Premiership was so tight that teams from ninth to 12th placed could have, on the other hand, ended the season in the top eight.

Today, Herman Gibbs and

Smiso Msomi look at the clubs that walked the tightrope concluding the season between ninth and 12th spots.

GOLDEN ARROWS (9)

Based on the results of the last few weeks, Golden Arrows was the best bet for a KwaZulu-Natal club to land a top-eight berth but came up short with a ninth-place finish.

Arrows were erratic this season and at one stage, they were hovering above the relegation zone.

The major problem was the team’s defence. They suffered heavy defeats: lost 4-0 to TS Galaxy and 5-2 to Stellenbosch FC.

While a top-eight berth was in reach, Arrows suffered two draws in their last three matches. One was against relegation-haunted Chippa United.

Following the sacking of Lehlohonolo Seema last season, Arrows appointed Vusumuzi Vilakazi and Mabhuti Khenyeza as co-coaches, and the pair survived the season.

Arrows’ best player, attacking midfielder Pule Mmodi is on the wanted list of Orlando Pirates. He could be a goner when the team reports for pre-season training.

The Tim Sukazi-owned club, TS Galaxy came up short in their bid to claim a top-eight berth after finishing in 10th position.

This season, TS Galaxy, under the guidance of Sead Ramovic, proved a hard nut to crack. After 30 matches, TS Galaxy ran up a total of 14 draws, which is the joint highest with Marumo Gallants this season.

One thing clear to opposition coaches was that TS Galaxy had one of the best defences in the league. TS Galaxy’s stingy defence conceded a miserly 22 goals.

That figure was only bettered by champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates, who conceded 13 and 21 goals, respectively.

In the past few months, the club attracted a fair bit of unwanted publicity. TS Galaxy reportedly failed to pay some of their players and staff members. Then there were rumours of the club wanting to sell because of financial difficulties.

ROYAL AM

Royal AM’s campaign was met with great optimism at the beginning as the ownership looked to build on what had been a somewhat successful season the previous term.

However, for all the new faces arriving at the Royal Ranch, offfield controversy took centre stage as early as August with issues of administration between the owners and management proving difficult to overcome.

It was unclear if Royal AM were going hit the heights of the previous season as they produced impressive performances one day and disappointing ones the next.

Following an inconsistent run in the middle of the season, the club re-signed coach John Maduka.

The job of qualifying the club for a top-eight spot proved too much even for the wiry Malawian as Royal AM could only manage an 11th-place finish.

AMAZULU

AmaZulu’s reinvention under the Zungu ownership has signalled an upturn in expectation and also pressure as the club’s supporters grow excited with the calibre of talent lured to the club.

This season, however, was one everyone associated with the club would like to forget as they witnessed one of the most worrying drop-offs from any team in the league.

AmaZulu, under the tutelage of Brandon Truter at the beginning of the season led the league as they held top spot after the opening half of the campaign.

But a string of poor results after that saw the club resort to Romain Folz as coach, an experiment that turned sour as the young Frenchman led the club towards potential relegation.

If not for the “rescue powers” of one of the club’s sons in Ayanda Dlamini, the multi-million entity that is Usuthu would probably be plying their trade in the Motsepe Foundation Championship but instead, they finished three points above the drop zone in 12th.