No game...Should we start to worry?

Good Friday to you....


Beautiful days are back again. It's the weekend people and that gives you time to catch and make up for what you missed out on during the overly structured weekdays. 


We don't have a game this weekend, can't say I like it but it gives me time to get some of my commitments out of the way. There's four games on Saturday for the Telkom cup. Surprisingly, at least to me, only two games are scheduled for Sunday. Both playing at the 15:00, couldn't the PSL put the following Wednesday's games late on Sunday if broadcasting was the issue?

Anyhow, our next game will be on Wednesday against Aces, the same Aces that just won against Pirates. There is no therefore anywhere there. What this means is that Aces are not to be taken lightly at all. But since this is cup game, players tend to be more motivated. Which is sad as the league games are just as important. It raises a question of, where our energies should be focussed, Cups or League?


If you're looking at the log table (not upside down), then you might be inclined to think we should focus on the league games. Which might be true. But someone else could be happy with a cup victory. I would be happy with a consistent performance in both cup and league games. Winning a cup would be nice, but not at the expense of a finish high up the league.
This short break imposed by the PSL gives us sometime to regroup, lick our wounds and grow back our wings. They've been clipped quite vigorously over the past weeks, something that makes me really sad.


I could mention that we've had quite a difficult start to the season, Sundowns (away), Ajax, AmaZulu (away), Maritzburg (away), and the Other team, but I won't mention that. Because there are no easy games in the PSL, I know its a overly used cliché but true at the same time. Our next league games at home, Celtic and Arrows won't be any easier. But we have to pick up some points now. If we are to compete for top honours then we should compete and beat these teams.


That is it from me today, enjoy your weekend and do all that you can't during the week.


Cheers and see you soon.


PS: thank you for reading

How do you know you are reading a newspaper up side down?

A very BIG hello,


Not the best of mornings for big hello's. But anything to lift one's spirit is welcome. Some of you would have noticed my absence from Friday till now. There are perfectly good reason(s) for that. I could list all of them here, but then I won't talk about football. Which is why we are here! Talking football that is!


Anyhow, you can take you pick from the following:

• Was sick
• Was half dead, so happy to be back half alive!
• Was sick
• Was writing exams?
• Was sick
• Was over worked by my employers
• Was sick

Most of you would not believe any of this, but rather that I was so grumpy after our loss to Maritzburg United, it called for hibernation.  Especially as I held prayer, after prayer for misery to be piled on Mr Mazinyo! At the end, sorry I stood you guys up!

So the answer to the question on the title

"When Swallows is number 1 on the log, you know you're reading the newspaper upside down!" 

OOPS! Look, the above is copyrighted, so if you want to use that you can send me an e-mail here. 
All that does is add to my list of my bad jokes, further highlighting why Mrs blogger doesn't find me funny at all. Let's talk about football then....


We lost yesterday. Any other loss might be understandable, but losing to this particular team, rubs me the wrong way. Credit to them for getting three points of us. Their rather fortuitous goal, came very early on and that proved to be a winner. Their build up to the goal, was something to take note off. The delightful chip over our defence by Yende gave the assist. Etafia came off his line and initially seemed to have cleared but the football gods decided to bounce the ball off him, rebound it of Nale and bang you have a goal. 


We did come back into the game, but failed to deliver. We have played five games, and not one won. Add the cup games to that, you realise we've just won one game in open play out of eight. Ridiculous!


Mr Zobel, you've got a big challenge if front of you. I am not blaming the coach at all. There's something about the team that is not right. The defence being at the top of the my list of culprits. We can not continue to concede silly goals as we are. Have a look at our games, it says a lot about our defence. Not scoring goals is a problem, but not only at Swallows. The whole country has that problem. No team is setting the country alight with a blaze of goals, so that does console one to some extent.


If that's the case then, it seems you have to win mostly by first defending well in this country. 


Zane Moosa was trying to be funny on TV yesterday, saying maybe we should change the sponsors logo on our shirts from VIVO to GTI...ha ha Zane! That "ha ha" is not the funny "ha ha"!


Let me leave it on the not so funny "ha ha" note...


Cheers and see you soon...

The "Truest" Football Friday

Hello Hello Hello,


You all know by now how exited I get on Fridays. Generally, even those who are always happy (haven't seen one yet), becomes more happier on Friday. 


Today is as true a "Football Friday" as it gets. The Beautiful Birds are up against Maritzburg United for a football service at the Harry Gwala Stadium. At stake here, is the three points we need to get up the log, but also we need to have "Mazinyo" as miserable as possible. The man destroyed one of our own creations.


Something we have to be cautious of today is conceding early and having to come back from behind. We've been down that road and have done well at AmaZulu and against Pirates in the recent finals. However, that can only go on for so long! That spirit is awesome to witness. Sometimes even a draw feels like a win when you've come back from behind. The coach talks about that spirit saying:

"I am proud of leading this team. The players have touched the hearts of the nation with their fighting spirit and I am sure that our efforts will soon pay dividends in the league. "

The coach is right, we've touched the hearts of the nation. Some hearts were soothed, like mine. But others we grabbed them and just run short of sticking the knife in and those guys won't be happy coach. 
Anyway, I'll be the more happier if you can touch "Mazinyo's" heart for me. Only in the manner of twisting it a bit, soothing it and when he's just getting his breath back, You stick the PANGA/ machete right through his awful heart!


More important for us, is the need to take the initiative right from the start, we can not concede especially from our own mistakes. Those have to be cut out right away. 


Something about Mr Zobel. A while back, he missed a media circus (Ok media briefing), but he had the honour to explain and apologies for the mishap. That there, is a mark of a "man of honour". 
I am mentioning this because Vladimir Vermezovic, coach of the famed Other team, decide to walk out of the media circus and declare never to talk to them unless where compelled by PSL regulations.
Well good luck VV, lets see if you can win the fight against media bunch. Hey, why not form a support group with JZ and Bheki?

VV: Ello, I am VV and totally hate the media!

JZ: Welcome VV!

Bheki: Tell that Motaung boy to shoot to kill, aim for the head, the HEEEEAAAAD!

Here's to three points!


Cheers and see you soon 

Keepers...Lefa in training

Good day!


It is the day before the day that football is back again. Which means it's thursday, the day before Friday when we will see a game of Football. YEE PEE!!!


I've been wondering, ahead of tomorrow's game, who will be our number one tomorrow! In our last game, the MTN 8 finals, we had both of our keepers take part due to an injury to our number 1 elect this season, Aubrey Mathibe. The injury section on our officiall website has not been updated with his injury, so I take it he is fit or someone is not doing his job.
Greg Etafia came on for the second half had a good game. And that does not imply Mathibe didn't have a good game either. But I tend to think he didn't help himself with the penalty conceded for Pirates' first and only goal. Generally thought, Mathibe has saved us in a number of games.


But this leads me to another issue. Of the top of my head, we've only played one game without conceding (I could do a bit of research but am lazy). That was the MTN 8 first leg game against Ajax in Cape Town, all the other games saw us concede, by worrying margins as well. I am far from blaming this on the Mathibe or the keepers. Its a team sport and the whole team has to defend as well as attack together. But keepers do play a critical role in the defensive aspect of the game. They have to organise defenders, shout at them when they're out of position, admonish them when they make bad passes in dangerous areas and also make the occasional last gasp saves. Defenders also have to be confident that their keeper will bail them out when the need arises.


I don't know why we've been conceding so many goals, and it is in no way just a goalkeeping problem. But Mathibe has been given a good run of games, a real confidence booster  and trust shown by the coach after Etafia has been our undisputed no 1 for a long time. So far we've tried with Mathibe in goals, I still think we can do better with Etafia especially after being dropped for the start of the season. He would be burning with desire to perform well knowing well that a drop in performance Mathibe would be there to claim the stakes.


In other news, Lefa Tsutsulupa says:

"After more than two months on the sidelines, it felt great to train with the team again last week. It's been a struggle and I am still in pain, but hopefully it will subside once I start getting stronger. I have done my rehab with the sports clinic as well as our own physio. Maybe in a week or so I'll start competing to be in the team."

So we know he won't be playing tomorrow, which is understandable. I'd rather he comes back when he's truly fit. Unfortunately we don't have the reserve football games that was introduced a few seasons ago and was ditched as soon as it started. Don't ask me why, but that is one of the ways to get player fitness and match practice up to scratch as used by many European teams. 


Three of our players (Ramahlwe, Shane and Ace Bhengu) were included in the U23 squad for the recent 2-0 win over Iran in Iran, which is good that we have a fair representation in our national teams and shows that development is taken to heart by the Birds.


That's it from me today.


Cheers and see you soon....

Football is back....soon

Good day!


Friday is approaching thick and fast which can only be a good thing. We've been deprived of the various "lekker" local football for over a week now. 


Maritzburg United away this very Friday will be interesting. Interesting because they coached by that toothless coach the one Enrst Middendorp. Now I have a particular dislike for the man because;

1. He coached the Other team, the one that wears yellow and black but calls it gold and black, and I hate them.
2. But my dislike for him is borne more out of what he did to Scara Ngobese. 

Scara Ngobese started with us the Beautifull Birds, before ending up with the Other team. Mr Middendorp saw it very fit to destroy a career of one of football's last true entertainers. You can talk about the end product all you like, the truth is Ted Dimitru won the league for the other team consecutively and no prices for guessing who his linchpin was. If you haven't figured it yet, it was Scara.

He did all his gimmicks, nutmegs and the shibobos on the field of played but at the end he was behind that killer pass or even giving the killer blow himself. And then came "Mazinyo", the rest as they say is a very sad history.

So for me Friday's game has an added meaning to it and I'd love for our boys to win it for:

• the three points we need to get up the table

• the memory of my fallen hero, Scara Ngobese

• but mostly as football religion prescribes, just so Middendorp can be miserable. And I will call on the football "HIGHER BEINGS" to make especially this point come true, and for Mr Middendorp to be followed by misery wherever he goes. 

In other news, the SABC / SAFA (Yes! I am still on about them), have "found a way forward" after the debacle of Sunday. And what that tells us is how far behind the SABC and SAFA are in being charge of football in this country. That "way forward" should have been standard staff up to now. 

What I personally hope for is that the TV rights contract with the SABC is NOT renewed when it expires. There are broadcasters our there that can do a much better job. And the "job" is not just broad casting games. If you take the Springboks and compare the brand power to Bafana Bafana, then you realise what I am on about.

 

We need a broadcaster who will market Bafana, and will have programming related to Bafana Bafana other than just games. The obvious candidate will be Supersport, but there are others out there, so SAFA do your job!

This is where I end it today. 

Cheers and see you soon.

PS: Please drop me a comment or two. Even when it was a battle for you to get to the end of the article. 

We draw Aces...Maritzburg edging closer

Good Day!


After my rant about the SABC yesterday, I have no inclination to revisit that topic again. A lot of people called radio stations, television programs and some on the internet wrote to express their "disappointment" with  our broadcasting corporation. 


I am surprised people were only disappointed, really? I am still disgusted, what they did was vomit inducing. I did not puke on Sunday when I discovered they won't be showing the game, and that only tells you one thing! Nothing will ever make me throw-up after the SABC / SAFA debacle failed to.  


The reason people are overly incensed with the SABC/SAFA is that, there is a bit of positivity around Bafana Bafana at the moment, the kind that's never been seen for a long while and we all want to be part of that. More so for those that have been supporting Bafana through its difficult times. 
I started by saying I won't revisit this topic again and here I am, a thousand and one words later and am still on it. Just goes to show how everyone's blood boiled on Sunday for missing this well awaited mass service!


Back to the PSL, and you can be guaranteed you won't miss any of it. The Telkom draw was done last night, and the Beautiful Dube Birds have drawn Mpumalanga Black Aces.  Not the worst of draws but Aces are not to be taken lightly, especially with Neil Tovey at the helm. Players there will be going all out to impress the new coach.  But I am certain our coach will make sure the players are up for the challenge having just recently lost to Pirates in the MTN 8 finals. 
I did mention in one of my blogs that no one in the Swallows camp should be dejected by that loss. The lottery of penalties handed that cup to Pirates. We did well getting to the finals, disposing of Supersport through penalties ourselves and Ajax in a well deserved victory. 


Before Aces though, we have a not so small matter of Maritzburg United away this Friday. The recent break for international football would have given our players a good rest, not that they needed it. The season has just began and not much football has been played to be honest. 


We are in the wrong half of the league table, so Friday's game calls for a three pointer to move up. 


Nothing else from me, the night mare of Sunday is still taunting me....Can we sue the SABC?


Cheers and see you soon

Don't watch the SABC...bad for you health!!

Good Day!


Its not such a beautiful sporting Monday morning for one particular reason. I can't discuss anything about Bafana's performance against the Leone Stars with my fellow "sofa" coaches. No debates, tactical master plan that should have been implemented this and that way! Nothing, NADA!!!  And that is thanks to our beloved SABC! 


Well, according to media outlets, Bafana got a very credible draw away in Freetown. The SABC, holders of all broadcast rights for Bafana Bafana games, saw it fit not to broadcast the game yesterday. Can't wait for their explanation. Not like I am expecting anything that will make sense. 


I don't know how it makes you feel, but I will tell you that I can't find one word in the dictionary that captures my irritation with the SABC for not showing Bafana's games. It's a serious pain and a health risk, to scroll through all Dstv channels back and forth hoping that, by some weird miracle they might be showing the game. No luck for me, I went to Lesotho TV, Soweto TV, and even M-NET, just hoping!!!!


A few weeks back, SAFA through Leslie Sedibe, put it out that they are putting the broadcasting rights for Bafana's games out in the market for bidding purposes. We all know that the PSL rights we bought by Supersport via DSTV and local football broadcasting has never been better. At the time when Supersport purchased the PSL rights, I wasn't entirely for it as I thought it might take football away from the people who really watched it.

Hindsight shows us that people weren't really getting any football at all through the SABC. And sadly that is the case with Bafana Bafana now. It makes it infinitely sad when you actually pay you TV licence without question. I will continue to do so, and will not for one second call for anyone to stop paying theirs.


But here's what I can call for:

"STOP watching the SABC, they are making loss, after loss, after loss, yearly that is. That is after you've paid you TV licence, they had a huge slice of the government money (your tax money) and they get loads more commercially through advertising."

I don't have access to the SABC's accounts but am fairly certain that commercial revenue makes a huge chunk of their money. That means they have a massive viewer-ship and that is what advertisers are after. So if you and I stopped watching, their viewer-ship drops, they don't get advertisers and thus no money to waste...simples!!! Good programming(not that the're many at the SABC) will find its way to good channels and South Africa will be a better place for it.


I hate missing games, especially when I've planned my day around watching it. It unreasonable from the SABC! I can't imagine how difficult it is to sell the rights for just yesterday's game to Supersport. They new months ago, as you did, that there will be a Bafana vs Sierra Leone game. Why couldn't they make plans to show the game on one of their other channels if those SALTA awards were so important for SABC 1 viewers? 


I am at the end of my blog and haven't even mentioned anything about football, my blood pressure is rising and sugar levels getting worse. The SABC is bad for you health, take it from me!!!


If you don't stop watching the SABC (South African Babalas Corporation), I will go for our mass service and ask for their transmission stations in your area to be hit by lightning!!!


And you know my prayers come true!!! Check the results of Niger vs Egypt after my calls on Friday!!!


cheers and see you soon

Happy Friday...Religion teaches us to revenge...Good luck Bafana

Hello to you guys!


Firstly, sorry to you as I've really had to work for my money in the past two days. There was no blog yesterday and the day before. Unfortunately, I am an employee as well, and since I do this blog for fun really, it does suffer if push comes to shove. 


I hate that I have to be away from you guys and not talk about football. Football is a religion in its own right in my book, seriously think about it. 


And no offence to any religion out there. But where there's a fast (spiritual fasting", football has it, and that's the break from the end of the season to the start. Not an easy period by any means, the fast breaks with that first kick of the new season. When others attend their different religious services, some on Friday, Saturday, and others Sunday, we have that in football. Football does do even better at times as there are midweek games to add to our already wonderful service offering, and our house of prayer are awesome and bigger, Look at the FNB Soccer City stadium.


It seems all religions share a similar problem, and that is attendances. People a not attending prayer services. Our service attendance are particularly poor here in South Africa. The recent mass congregation (World Cup) has not helped much. If there's rebirth elsewhere in religious circles, that is our footballing rebirth that should have rejuvenated our spirits and souls. Owners, coaches/managers, assistants, etc etc serve all that familiar role of Priest, Rabbis and so forth. Offerings I hear you ask? DUH, did you forget about gate reciepts/entrance fees? We actually offer even before the service starts! Some of our services offer great choir sessions, the singing lifting the spirits ever so gallantly. 


I really hope we can somehow start to attract the masses back to our services, people need to repent here in SA, all sins shall be forgiven.


Anyway, we have Bafana Bafana going for a service in Sierra Leone this weekend. And NO! We should not give them the other cheek so they slap us, NOOOO! I've heard Pitso, our beloved Bafana coach say that we are not going to avenge our defeat by the same country in 2008. Sorry but this is where the rules change: Our religious decree states as follows:

"If anyone slaps on your cheek, turn around and smack him so hard he remembers this for his entire life, so as not to repeat this act"

Further on, in our holy book, it is stated as that:

"Revenge is sweet, and every opportunity to take revenge should be seized upon!"

Soothing words indeed. So Pitso needs to repent and go for confessions. 


Sierra Leone are in a bit of disarray at the moment having snubbed their star players. The same players that helped the so well when the held their service recently in Egypt coming back with a credible draw. Another of our wonderful commandments:

"Wish unto others all that brings them misery and sadness"

And with those rejuvenating parting words, I wish upon Egypt a miserable time in Niger.


Cheers and see you soon for another sermon! 

Bafana..Pienaar and Teko's chance

Good day!


Its internationals week thus by default all nationals should be supporting the national teams. 


And that includes us South Africans. To be honest Bafana has been enjoying some of the best support seen in many years. And that is thanks to the recent World Cup held in our back yard. From a footballing point of view the WC has aided in improving the support from the Nation at large even none footballing people.


Bafana are in a training camp with the usual hick-ups. Players coming late (Mdledle) and some being declared unfit by their clubs. This is the initial squad as called-up by Pitso.


Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune, Moeneeb Josephs, Darren Keet
Defenders: Siboniso Gaxa, Morgan Gould, Tsepo Masilela, Aaron Mokoena, Anele Ngcongca, Siyabonga Sangweni, Bongani Khumalo, Innocent Mdledle
Midfielders: Siphiwe Tshabalala, Teko Modise, Thanduyise Khuboni, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Steven Pienaar, MacBeth Sibaya, Andile Jali
Strikers: Katlego Mphela, Surprise Moriri, Bernard Parker, Sthembiso Ngcobo




Already Steven Pienaar has been declared unfit by his club Everton. I do smell a rat with this one but I shall wait and see if Pienaar miraculously becomes fit just after this week of internationals. Its a known trick by some established players colluding with their football clubs to snub their countries.  Sad because this is quite a critical game for us and Pienaar's influence would have been helpful. I will sit here and hope it doesn't escalate to the Benni/Bafana love - hate story. 


I am of the opinion that as this is a qualifier and Pitso having said he won't call a replacement, Pienaar should be made to travel with the squad. If he is truly injured, fine, don't play him at all, not even train. We obviously want to maintain a good working relationship with players' clubs and make sure that players' careers are as well managed by National Associations as are their clubs. 
I understand how critical Pienaar is to Everton, he is equally critical for us. And Pitso with SAFA needs to work out a plan which involves not calling some of the players for silly unnecessary friendly games. That becomes very important as well once you talk about developing players and extending the depth of you squad.

But Pienaar being there with the boys playing or not, would prove to be a huge morale booster for the rest of the team. Argentina did the same recently with Lionel Messi. They actually called him for a friendly game citing that just his presence will motivate others even when injured.


Anyway, Pienaar's injury presents a glorious opportunity for Teko Modise to play himself back into the squad. He been at the receiving end of some booing at his club. I was also at the Bafana Bafana vs Ghana game, and there were some three idiots sitting two isles behind me who started booing Teko when he came to warm up. Me being me, I totally called them off and admonished them for that. They were supporters of the other team.


Booing players does no good to the player, not even to the team. Its senseless, instead what we should be doing is encouraging him to try harder. He can still be helpful to both his club and Bafana Bafana. Good luck to him in Sierra Leone, I personally hope he has a good game.


I am not going to complain with Pitso's selection. Am just sad he didn't call Keegan for this one. He did have an awesome game against Pirates over the  weekend, shackling Mabalane for the better part of the game. Pirates fans will tell you otherwise, and that is what makes football.


Cheers and see you soon!

Heads Up!!!

Good Day!


From here on you know the weather can only get better. Its magnificent out there. My only regret is I have to spend my days stuck indoors, as with many of you!


Well the Birds aren't chirping much after the week-end results. I don't for one feel down. Just a bit of irritation in the office where I work. There's a surge of Pirates regalia this morning and obviously everyone is taking a cheap shot at me!


Once more, Congratulations to them! I understand after waiting so long for a cup victory.


I need to reiterate that no one from the Birds camp should feel dejected after losing on Penalties. We ourselves won on the dreaded lottery of Penalties against Supersport United. And believe me, no one enjoyed that more than me.


One thing we also need to be careful of as Swallows members, is the Media. These guys are the evil we can't really do without. In the week leading to this Saturday, you could swear Pirates only needed to turn-up and collect the trophy! BOO HOO! When listening, reading or watching these guys be extremely cautious with what you are fed. They continue to tell us that Pirates were the more hungrier side and thus deserved to win it. How did the measure that exactly? What made Pirates deserve it more than us? 10 years?


If anything, there's a lot of positive to take from the defeat on Saturday. We've seen that "Never die" spirit come to the fore again. And its wonderful to know that we are not out of it even when approaching full-time. Also, the second half of normal time saw us play some really good football.


Another person could look at that and take that to be a negative. And they'd have a point. We can not always rely on us coming back from behind. Its great when it happens, but we continue to put ourself under unnecessary pressure. What we did in the second half against Pirates and AmaZulu should now be transferred to the first half and maintained throughout the game. 


We now have Interweek, so it gives us enough time to regroup and work on this for the Maritzburg game. We are on the wrong half of the league table and our focus should now shift entirely to moving up the log table.


Bafana Bafana has got a big challenge in front of them, let us give them the support they need for this one. Our group is quite tricky, but I'll deal with this more in the coming days.


Cheers and see you soon

Pirates wins Via Lottery of Penalties

Good Sunday to you...

Pirates started on fire as was expected' putting us under pressure. And scoring from a penalty. Not so clear cut but Pirates needed a helping had. Truth be told Mathibe didn't help himself by lifting his leg so high. In any case he did catch Otorungu and the penalty was correctly given having looked at the highlights. We also seemed unsettled and Pirates had all the possession which they really didn't use because our defence stood their ground. When we had the ball, I thought we did have some neat passes but it did not last long enough to get something out of it.

Second half started with swallows fighting back. Mathibe out for Etafia.  Nomvethe being injured rendered him ineffective upfront but had one impossible shot saved well by Moneeb. Sad for Bhele to be injured and not at a 100% for such an important game. And also you could see Pirates players were targeting him. But the fight was back on, Pirates was really on the back foot and only a matter of time before a goal came. Pirates have nothing, if anything, we weren't pushing them hard enough. Their famed super subs of Segolela and Mashego didn't aid their prospects by much.

Haschick came on for Machapa, Nergazhe came off for Mashishi. But I've got a feeling we are short of an ideal link-up man, someone to hold the ball upfront and let the midfield come into play, but that's just me.
A cynical foul by Mahamutsa led to a free kick on the edge of the 18 area.  Sweetly struck by Ngcaca for a nicely flicked goal by Shivambu. This with just five min to go. And at this stage no text messages from my Pirates Mate who had been "texting" me for the better part of the game. GOTCHA!!!

Extra time starts with us giving Pirates some space, worryingly! But as the game went on we got back into it. We had a break with Bhele intercepting play, feeding Haschick who delayed with his final ball and eventually losing it.

Second Half of extra time Pirates had a kick about, nothing that worried us. And of course to the lottery that is Penalties.

At this stage we could not continue to embarrass Pirates. Ten years is way too long a time for any team to wait for a cup. Especially when you regard yourself a big team!

"Congratulations to Pirates....Penalties are part and parcel of the Football game, thus any team that wins via the lottery that is PENALTIES should celebrate, But equally no team that looses via PENALTY shoot-outs should feel any dejection whatsoever!!!"

But more importantly well played to my boys, am not disappointed at all. It was quite a spectacle to watch and you added immensely to that!

Spot on Coach with your tactics...And Nobody in the Swallows camp should feel dejected at all. Collectively you guys had a good game.

We now go for a very long period with-out proper football. Its internationals' week (interweek), so we shift our focus to Bafana Bafana.

Cheers and see you soon

Birds vs Pirates preview....Tonight we conquer!!!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson gave us those  beautiful words. I usually love my own quotes, nothing wrong in getting a helping hand now and again.

To the boys down in Durban: T

"Tonight we conquer!!!"

With or without Nomvethe, I am nervous in anticipation of a victory tonight and won't write much today.

 

Football Rebirth...Nothing bigger than this

Hello, hello, hellooo!

A wonderful Football Friday today, absolutely amazing weather. So you must be clad in you football gear, that famous maroon and white.

Today is the day before the big day, that makes this a bigger day as well. The start of awesome days ahead, back to normality for two days. Anything goes on these days, partying, eating, boozing and a good old family time for some of us.

There was no blog yesterday, sorry to you my loyal readers. And there's a perfectly perfect explanation for yesterdays' mishap. It just set in yesterday that I won't make it to Durban for the game tomorrow. And so being the adult that I am, I was really grumpy and started throwing all of my toys out of the pram.
That took me a while, by the time I was done throwing tantrums it was late for a blog and honestly my inspiration had gone by then.

Tomorrow is, in football terms, the equivalent of Nelson Mandela's release in prison, dead serious! It even took Madiba less, three years less, than it took for witnessing a final between two great GIANTS of South African football, (Moroka Swallows being the bigger GIANT of the two). Thirty years, football in South Africa has been deprived of its privileges, its freedom and true pleasures. In fact Madiba himself has not witnessed the final between these two, having been incarcerated by the time of the last final.

We shall wait no more fellow mortals!!

Tomorrow, the Beautiful Dube Birds and Orlando Pirates come against each other in the Final of the MTN8.

"Where two bulls clash, no grass shall grow"

So said the elders, they of course knew better. The grounds man in Durban will eventually have work to do on Monday. It will be a legendary clash tomorrow. The last final between the two, 1980, inspired the likes of Doctor Khumalo himself to become something of an icon in South African football. Then a thirteen year old Doctor was part of the Swallows academy and curtain raised for these two awesome giants in that final. So believe me when I say football is being reborn, legends will be built.

Hope is finally here, just as it was when Madiba was released from prison that many years ago.

Pirates are under tremendous amount of pressure as they have made themselves averse to cup finals, let alone winning a cup, this decade. Their fans will throw tantrums the moment things don't go their way, I hope they don't throw missiles as did the Other team's fans when they lost to the same Orlando Pirates last Sunday.

Pirates fans continue to boo Teko Modise and for what exactly? How is that helping him, or you club? Let me set the record straight here:

"Teko is a victim of the Other Team's fans, the same team the lost to you on Sunday. This started when he was with Bafana Bafana, and they jeered when he lost his form. They know Teko is a good player and plays for a better team than theirs. Dumb Pirates fans picked up the baton and this is continuing at club level."

No golden egg for Pirates then if that continues, ten more years they'll wait. Tomorrow will see the Birds enjoy more support from the rest of the Nation. I think we'll have support from the Other team's fans as well. Try as hard as they might, they won't jinx it for us! We'll be flying high over those dead bones!!!

So here's to the Birds. Tomorrow South Africa will be at a stand still between 20:00 and midnight. Have fun watching the game.

Nomvethe injured, Lefa Trains...1980 revisited

Good day!

Not the best of mornings, the weather is been acting up recently, nothing we can do much about. And today we've got bad news and a bit of good news.

First the good news. Lefa Tsutslupa was back at training on Tuesday, which is really good news. Just that he is back is good news. He's the captain of the team, he's a good player. I can't tell you how much we missed him, but I know we could have used his services in some of our past games.
He is back but obviously not match fit and correctly the coach will not want to use him on Saturday. We've come so far already without him. Saturday will be a high stakes game, he might be behind the pace and it is unnecessary to put any pressure on a player just coming back from injury.

Now 50% of the price money on Saturday will go to the players when the cup is won. Lefa mention on our official site that:

"This cup will go to the hungrier team, and I believe that will be Swallows"

That should not be the only incentive for the players. Wining the cup for football's sake should always be the primary motive, wining for the supporters should come in close second. The rest is a bonus for them and they can do as the please with it. But remember boys, your careers are fairly short, take you wining's and invest properly. Consult a financial adviser if you are unsure.

By the way, the must be about three thing that really interest man in life:

• Sport
• Money
• Woman

I blog about sport, am married and just talked about money (of which I don't have) a few sentences back.

 

To the bad news, Siyabonga Nomvethe has had to go through surgery yesterday. Not exciting news at all. He's been our focal point of attack. As stand-in captain, he's really lead from the front, quite literally. Nomvethe looks to me like a captain that wants to lead by deeds and he's been doing that pretty well. So if he doesn't make it for Saturday, it won't be a train smash but we'll miss another very useful player.

Get Better soon Bhele!!!

Those that don't know, the last time Pirates played us in a cup final was in 1980. That was the Mainstay Cup final that Pirates won. No final has ever been played by us and Pirates since then. Thanks mostly to Pirates choking when called to duty. So the final in Durban takes on a huge importance, because those days of Ace Mnini, Vadar Mophosho and the like of Jomo Sono from the Ghost side needs to be brought back to live. Football is starting to take form, to follow the natural progression.

Swallows vs Pirates in any final in a natural progression.

Cheers and see you soon.

Pirates Making noises already...Fickle supporters

Good day!

I listen and watch many sport shows as you probably do yourself. But what amused me mostly yesterday was Pirates fans, already declaring the MTN 8 cup their own even before the ball is kicked.

They can go ahead and do that at their own peril. Not long ago, it was the Other team that had they "goldish" tails wagging furiously after scoring just one away goal against Pirates in the first leg. That, to their supporters was it, one leg in the final for them and once they are through with Pirates the cup would be waiting for them in Durban for collection, according to them the had the parcel number for the trophy.

Well, we all know the Other team lost and their supporters' fickle nature shone through. Starting at the stadium by throwing tantrums missiles onto the pitch. It continues to this day in the office corridors, no hello's from them or inviting anyone for tea breaks. Ha ha ha to them!!!!

For the Birds, this is a great step in the right direction. The form we have show lately can be improved upon. Heads should be kept down, more effort in training should be the order of the day. We've come this far, and amid all the noises that are coming form the Ghost camp and supporters, we should just raise the bar once more in Durban.

As Swallows fans, we should know that our place is right behind the team. In loses and in wins, we are the Beautiful Birds supporters. Where we will compete with others  for the best supporters around. Its easier to support the team now that they in the final. This should be continued through once the cup final is over to get the team back up the league table.

Short and sweet today....I know!!! Got to go have tea with a Pirates man. The Other guys  are still grumpy...

cheers and see you soon

Pirates through...The real deal, the way football was!!!

Good Day,

What an awesome weekend this has been, both in non-footballing and footballing terms. A mate's wedding on Saturday is the reason I couldn't watch the game. I got see the highlights late on Saturday and I can tell you I was still as excited as watching the real game itself.

I had my doubts going into our game but my cup was more half full. And so the Birds did to Ajax what they did to us a few weeks back at the same Dobsonville stadium. We led 2-0, they came back and made it 2-2 and we nailed the final screw in.

Ha ha Ajax!, Their coach was talking about them being the favourites going into this game. Tail between legs must have been the order of the day going back to Cape Town. I love it when a coach can go to the media and talk about being favourites and then be made to eat a nice serving of humble pie.

Saturday's result made for and even awesome day yesterday. The onus was on Pirates to get a result against the Other team and they did. For once Pirates stood up and did not disappoint.

Thank you Pirates you completed my truly fabulous (not so long) week-end. Setting up a final to behold, something never seen in recent memory. Ladies and Gents this is what football used to be like, when legends clashed and the two teams in the final of the MTN 8 are legendary. This will be the "Soweto Derby" of note, we are witnessing in our lifetime, things we could only hear in narrations, passed down from generation to generation.
It has now come to life.

"The Beautiful Birds vs Orlando Pirates in the final of the MTN 8"

Nothing beats that and if anyone dares tell you otherwise, you can send them to Durban on October 2 to witness for themselves the epitome of South African football. Football is being brought back to life and we are the bearers of this unenviable task, many fell by the way side. Some so called Soweto Giants that wears yellow and black, the rich boys from Pretoria, one by one they all fell.

Football will be revived, something we will do with great panache for we are the "Beautiful Birds". Pirates must also count themselves very fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to play against the Birds in a Cup Final. They are the ones who've been slacking off in recent memory. So I am happy for them for seizing this opportunity to show to South Africa and the world what football once was like.

Here's to life being the way it was, here's "THE" Soweto Derby, here's to Pirates reaching the final, HALLELUJA!!!!.

Have to leave it here today.

Cheers and see you soon

National Braai Day!!!

Hello hello hello.....

What a beautiful day we have today....It is the last day of the week everybody! Hurray!!!!! When was the last time we had an extended version of the normal days?

I believe tomorrow is National Braai day!!! How much awesomeness do you need if you can have a National Braai day? South Africa rocks! I know for some every Friday in Braai day, but for us mere mortals, tomorrow is  when we try to up our game.

There was some PSL action last night. With Sundowns wining in Cape Town against Santos. A well take goal by Mphela, who form is coming back. You can have a look at the rest of the results here. Nothing of note with yesterday's result, except maybe for the Students getting a lesson from new boys Vasco.

The Beautiful Birds weren't playing as you know. The PSL had decided to postpone all games involving teams in the MTN 8 semifinal. I am not sure I agree with their reason and fail to understand how that benefits these teams. We are still in the early stages of the season, teams are fresher now, so they could do with a bit of additional midweek games. If they can't cope with a midweek game and a Saturday cup game them maybe the should not compete in the PSL.

Nomvethe says on our official site:

"We all know what a great opportunity we have of playing in a major cup final and are determined to prove to certain people who are writing us off, how wrong they are. The Birds will reach the final this time,"  

I totally agree with him. But more importantly the team needs to prove to themselves and us the supporters that we've taken lesson from our last two games and will continue to work hard and improve. He continues to talk about the spirit shown in the AmaZulu game which was tremendous coming back from 2-0 down. It is great to witness that and I hope the team knows that some teams will now let us come back from two nil down.

Our defence is leaking unnecessary goals, really soft goal and that is the area that needs attention. Defensive work in not only for defenders these days, the whole team should defend from the front. Pressing high up the pitch will also relief a lot of pressure from our defenders. When we lose the ball, there's absolutely no need to throw arms in the air if the ref doesn't blow for what we perceive to be unfair play, knuckle down, hunt for that ball again. This is futher emphasised by our coach, he says:

"We will close Ajax down. If we close the spaces and disrupt their passing game we will succeed. Also we have to be tough and hit them hard in the one-on-one situations. We need to interrupt their passing game, in other words keep Ajax under pressure from the kick-off." 

Ajax won in Dobsonville after we came from 2-0 down, they want to play the game on the ground. I think it will require a lot of running from us to press them, put them under pressure and force them to commit errors or release the ball early. Anyhow, I think it will be a game to behold, so make sure you are at the stadium.

I will be travelling this weekend to rural South Africa. If by some miracle I get an internet connection, you will get my blog over the coming days. Otherwise you have to wait for Monday. Sad I won't be able to get to the game. Its my mate's wedding so can't miss that.

Those at the game sing loud for the boys.

Cheers and see you  soon...

PSL Awards....Awesome!!!!

Good day to you...

A beautiful Wednesday morning today. After the awards ceremony held yesterday, you can't have better than this weather.

I need to explain the process of the Awards yesterday. It was purely per invite, and me being as privileged as I am, I did get my invite. And I was one of the trio of judges that included none other than David Tlale and Deon Chan. Awesome line up I know!!

As you know the PSL has all sorts of awards each end of the season. They now thought it better to have this specific award at the beginning of each season. The awards are for the best looking kit of the teams involved in the PSL.

Without further delay let me get to the result and remember you are getting this here first! What I will do is start with teams that ranked lowest and finish with the team that won. And also give a bit of and explanation next to each team rank:

16       Vasco Da Gama

The judging panel felt that the black and white of Vasco is unimaginative, added to that was that there is also Orlando Pirates that prides themselves with black and white.

14      Maritzburg United and Black Aces

These teams are ranked together here as the wear the same blue colours. As judges we felt it is a colour that is very easy to chose. You just look up the sky and no thought process follows.

12     Golden Arrows

Their yellow and green is not brought to live and then yellow is already taken by others who've been here longer. Sorry.

11     Santos

Santos only beat Arrows because their yellow is combined with red. Red is for danger but they are not such a dangerous team. Only pretending to be dangerous when the weather is horrible in Cape Town

10     Wits University

This team uses a semblance of blue but they've been in the PSL longer so the are ranker higher than those at position 14. And for students, they could pick the best brains for their design team. Lazy buggers!!

9       Ajax Cape Town

Ajax uses the colour of their mother team in the Netherlands, Ajax Amsterdam. There is no local influence to their look so they are even luck to be ranked so high.

8       AmaZulu 

This team wears a very deep green, which can be great on any other person's hands. But their kit reminds most South Africans of Nigeria as it looks very similar. As all of us judges are South Africans, we felt we can't let Nigeria continue to humiliate South Africa even in kit designs. We've had enough losing to them.

7       Free State Stars

As far as we were concerned as judges, this is the only team that uses Red currently in the PSL. They are not effective in the use of red and that danger that is associated with red does not come out. 

6       Bloemfontein Celtic

Another Free State team. They use green predominantly, they are only ranked so high because the are the only team that uses stripes in the kit. Also their fans are know to adore their teams kit and will only by original merchandise.  

5       Platinum Stars

They just fortunate to be sponsored by Puma. Puma has done wonders with their variation of blue. 

4       The Other Team

First the explanation of the Other team had to be provided to the judges by the PSL itself and it is as follows:

"The other team is explained as the team that wears yellow and black currently sponsored by mike Nike. This team when wining loves their yellow, but otherwise when they want a pick-me up and want to feel important, they call their colours Gold and Black. They also claim to be from Soweto even thought they wanted to build the stadium very far from Soweto in Krugersdorp"

Now we, as judges felt, we had to give them such a high ranking for being the first to use Yellow and the first to really call Yellow Gold and to have their followers believe it is actually Gold. Great work there!!!!

Well done to the Other team

3       Mamelodi Sundowns 

The rich boys of SA football are also sponsored by Nike, the wear the colours of Brazil so no imagination on their part. But as judges we felt as they are the team that had 44 consecutive passes against the other team, the deserved position 3.

1       Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows

We felt as judges that Pirates have regressed from their fabulous kit last season. They are the originator of black and white so that gave them a huge advantage. Their current home kit thus however resemble a rugby kit rather than that of football. What could have swayed the judges mind was that they a sponsored by Addidas which makes fabulous kits. Addidas also sponsors Bafana Bafana and we had to be really patriotic with this one!

In fact judges felt Pirates ranked at 1.5 and Moroka Swallows really remained true to their slogan of the "Beautiful Birds". Their kit looks awesome beyond comprehension. The only team that uses the fabulous maroon colour and effectively used by Puma in their design.

The PSL congratulated Moroka Swallows more than Pirates for winning this award and urged the other teams to start thinking just a tiny bit more...

And that is it from the awards ceremony.

Cheers and see you soon.

Madness in our Football....

Good day to you.....

Not the best weather we can have around today, its partly cloudy with a bit of irritating wind, the kind that makes you sneeze all the while. I seem to be coming up with some flu bug....

Talking about flu, are there online doctors, I mean,  I can just submit my symptoms online, you know the usual staff: running nose, sore throat, nasal congestion/blocked nose and a headache. All they'll have to do is check for  the latest release of anti-biotic and send a prescription to me.
Simples!!!
Whilst at it, please send a sick note as well.

Back to football, you guys must have seen the merry go round in our football at the moment. Steve Khompela in now appointed as Free State Stars coach. He was their coach not so long ago. He left in a huff, went Platinum stars, and the ever so philosophical Steve, philosophized a bit with Stars  and as always without much philosophical end product.
What is that they say in South African football when they fire a coach? Yeah!

"We have reached and amicable agreement to part ways with the coach"

Gotcha!!! So he ends up back were he started! He was at the under 23's as well.

The seat he vacates at Stars is occupied by Owen Da Gama, and as you would have guessed it, that's exactly where he started his coaching career. He was poached by Khoza when he had some success with then Silver Stars, but was fired at Pirates before we even knew he was there. Ended at Bloemfontein Celtic, and probably reached and "amicable" agreement there as well ending back at Stars.

But in all of the very merry, merry -go-round's in our football, one name keeps popping up. Khoza's pirates is there or there about. Ask Gordon Igesund, Roy Barreto, Owen Da Gama...etc..etc. Khoza's modus operandi is that:

"Any coach who show any semblance of success, just a tiny bit, that coach will be hire to coach the black and white, the Ghost. But before everyone knows we'll quickly reach an amicable agreement with them" 

But this condition doesn't apply to those that make it their business to make sure that the "happy people" don't actually win anything. Kosta Papic, anyone? Ruud Krol appears to be towing the line as well, but Krol must be at 90% of reaching his own amicable agreement. You'd know this if you listened to Robert Marawa's show yesterday.
The essence of the story is that Krol is challenging Mr K to a boxing match, Krol is implying that there is management interference with the team. Well, Mr K is apparently been seen in Durban with the ANC NGC! (I need to re-iterate that we are not a political blog). But a word of advise for Krol, I totally, honestly believe thats the quickest way to reaching an amicable agreement. So good going man!

And you all know why I am a Swallows man, and If you have ever had that wonderful dream, that dream when you are flying around and just being free flying, loving it and wanting to fly some more, mhhmmmm.

You know if you've had this dream that you are true swallows man.

Not much happening in our local football scene, I mean real football on the pitch, so I'll leave it here today.

Cheers and see you soon

Last ditch draw...Point gained

Good MonDay to you

It's a definate case of a point being gained in a very difficult away game. A slightly positive result that I had expected, anything else my head would be burried somewhere unbeknown to the rest of human kind. But as it is, I am now saved by that last minute equaliser from Ncaca. A thunderous strike from outside the box, well timed, well executed and well placed shot. Well done Gareth, and the assist deserve equal mention. And I can gaurantee you I would not have been the only one to find relief in our second goal, look no further than our coach.

You can look at my Friday blog and I mentioned already that the Zulu kingdom now just uses their spears for decorative purposes. It looked to me, with  Mangoba Mnithi on board, they had cleaned them up this weekend and tried hard to bring every Bird in the sky down. Fortunately for us, I think those spears have just gone blunt and we flew just a tad higher than we did against the Cape side in recent times.

There's something about our perfomances that I can't put my finger on. Amazulu's first goal came against the run of play dominated by Swallows. We had a neat passing game around the tenth minute that resulted in a shot by Leonard straight at the Amazulu keeper. If someone has keept count of those passes, please let me know at upthebirds@gmail.com. It was magically to watch that type of football in the local scene and something to be used as a yardstick for future perfomances. But almost immediately after that we conceded. A combination of comic defending by our team and some neat work from Amazulu, cleanly put away by Dlamini on the 12th minute.

Their second goal was another combination of our amateurish defending and a white Zulu warrior showing our defense how to take advantage of opportunities like that in the penalty area. We've got some of the tallest defenders in the PSL and we should not get beaten from a high ball like that, but we are!!!!! I did complain about our midfield combination, so far we have not used the same combination in all of our games. I understand the coach my be trying to find the right one, but how is that going to work if you don't give one combination an extended run to develop their understanding. The only result that we had something close to positive was away to Ajax. Then it was Nergazhe and Ngaca in midfield. And you will agree with me that the introduction of Ngaca brought about a change to our game yesterday. I am not a coach but it seems clear this is the combination that works for Swallows at the moment.

Our equalizer came from none other that Nomvethe. Not surprising and if anyone in that team deserve a goal, its him. At his age, a lot of the young kids would do well to learn from him. He never stop running for the team, dedicated and shows his commitment. His goal was well taken as well following some good passing moves.

Overall, its a slightly positive. But anything more positive than that will require extensive work on our defense. We cannot continue to concede like that (we've conceded in four of our five games so far) if we are to challenge for silverware. Coming back from two nil down is staff of legends. It shows great mental strength and long may this develop, Not the coming from behind, the mental strength.

Our midweek game against the Other team has been postponed, so we have enough time to gather our thoughts and prepare for Ajax in the second leg of the MTN 8.

That's were I leave it today....

Cheers and see you soon

Amazulu preview...

Good Sunday to you..

The last day of the few awesome days we have in a week. Hope you enjoy whatever is left of it. I have been outside and seen people looking really happy, a few braai smokes here and there. This can only be the effects of such a beautiful sunday...

Football is on today. We are away at Amazulu a the fabulous Moses Mabhida stadium. I hope crowds pitch up today to add some much needed atmosphere to the local footballing scene. So far Amazulu has done one better than us, having won one and I think they lost the other one. It will be a hugely important game for both of us. We desperately needs to get back to winning ways, and Amazulu will obviously out to get a scalp of one of the bigger teams of this country.

What gives me hope is that we didn't concede in our last game against Ajax away. The defensive combination that was used in that game is relatively new, with Cichon having been suspended a week earlier.  Ashraf Hendriks, who has played all our games so far understands the importance of this game. Saying on our official site, 

“The game against AmaZulu is a must win encounter for us. The turnaround has to come against AmaZulu. We have two difficult games after this one against Chiefs and Ajax and you do not want to go into those games low on morale. We need the win to this match for our confidence”

I am glad he understand what is at stake here, and what this means going forward. This should be the message that is clearly communicated to the rest of the team. But what I also hope our players don't do is to have the concentration distracted by game against the Other team midweek. Our full effort today should be on Amazulu and Amazulu alone. It is important as he says that we go in to the other games coming from a win.

We are still missing a few players as indicated here. The missing players don't worry me much, there should have been a lot of work put in at training this week. What we had in Cape Town a week ago was a slightly positive result, that should be improved on.
In other news our coach apologizes to the media for not showing up at a media day or something of that sort. Its all good a well to appologies, but such petty things will distract us from our objectives.I hope it doesn't and  we focus on our main business which is football.

Heres' to three points....

Cheers and sse you soon

Amazulu...Football is back

Happy Friday to you...

I was just thinking about Swallows...as I always do!!! We've got Amazulu on this weekend, and this is in Durban. I love Durban by the way, capital of city of India!!! I know its an old joke, just pretend its funny still.

I love Durban just because of the weather, you guys know my fascination with the weather. I've said before here that this blog is not for weather reports. Its just that each morning after waking up, I have to look outside the window and see what the weather has in store for me. I do this religiously, and on good weather days I am at my happiest. So Durban does offer a reasonably better weather especially during the winter were it doesn't get as cold as it does inland.

Anyway, Amazulu is coached by quite a useful guy. I quite fancy Manqoba Mnithi as a coach that will grow in the local game. I don't like the way he left Arrows, but to be fair to him Amazulu is a bigger challenge. His teams play good football so we will have a game on our "wings" there.

We've had a difficult start to the season, Sundowns away and Ajax at home (a game we should have had a point at least), now its Amazulu away. It will be difficult and the players know that our season has to turn around at some point. And where better than in Durban. We've lost both our games against Amazulu last season, we have to go there motivated to take something out of this weekend's game. I don't think we should go there for revenge, but if we can last season why not?

There's yet no injury update on the official site, so I am not sure if Lefa Tsutsulupa is ready for this game. Our midfield seemed to have improved against Ajax in the MTN 8 game in the Cape. That combination of Ngcaca and Nergazhe seemed like something could develop out of it. Nergazhe had improved from his first game, and I am all for giving people a chance. If he continues to improve like that, then that can only be good for us and himself.

We've really got to come back with something in Durban, those Zulu warriors just have the spears for decorative purposes these days. And those war cries, thats just for tourist. So we have to go there without any fear. That we lost both our games to them should not hold us back.
Our biggest huddle will really be mentally, so lets go there in the right frame of mind. Thats where the coaching staff comes in, work with the boys to get them mentally equipped and soon we'll be sailing very high.

Its Friday, the happiest day for many of us...we let loose from today. So go out there and celebrate.

Cheers and see you soon....

Poor Attendances...Bafana Ranks higher

Good day....

You would have heard by now, Bafana Bafana are moving up the FIFA rankings to their rightful place, 58th now from around 90th just prior to the world cup. Congratulation to the boys and more importantly to the Nation. I think Bafana has seen some improved support recently. Yes, the world cup had much to do with it, I only hope this is continued. Just a thought, what would be our ideal ranking really? Top fifty, top twenty or top ten even?

We should push to be ranked as high as possible, but what would you, as a South African be more satisfied with? I don't think we've ever been ranked higher than twenty, if my memory serves me well, I think the highest was 22. That could also just be wishful thinking!

But critically we should keep on supporting the Boys. You know I was on the issue of support yesterday, and I mention something that the Birds are doing. Swallows has taken a long term view of this, and I love long term. What they've done is attract kids to the stadium to come and watch the team play. For the long term this is ingenious. This kids will grow knowing this team and under the Birds wings. A masterstroke!!!

It will take a long time to see the fruits of this project and it will go in leaps and bounces. My plea for now you Fellow bird is that if you have bit of spare cash or know someone who has, and there's many of you out there even in these recessionary times, please support this kids with a few T-shirts in our colours (Maroon and White thank you). This is something that could be done on a season by season basis but I am sure if you get in touch with our Brand Manager, Siya here you can work out a few things together.

I really hope Swallows continues with this, but critical to this plan would be the Birds using the same Dobsonville stadium as their home base for many, many, many, many, many, many years to come. I am not privy to the lease agreements in place between us and owner/management of the Dobsonville stadium. But a good start would probably to make this very long term. In my terms that would be just about ninety-nine years, Not long term enough I know!!!
There could be a few benefits to this. It could allow us to really Swallowficate (you catch my drift) this stadium and make it into the Birds' Nest that we really want. There's a saying in one of our many local languages that says, when literally translated:

"You can't follow a snake to its hole"

Well try getting int a Birds' Nest....And this is what I am trying to get to. We have to make it just that, you go there at you own peril!!! It has ooze of the Birds.

In the short term though, getting supporters back to the stadiums is a bit tricky. And that I'll leave to those in the know. But I think we've thinking too long outside the box! Its not working....so let's starting thinking within the box for a while, get some balls rolling and who know?

Thats it from me today.....

Cheers and see you soon