Stellenbosch FC CEO Rob Benadie has candidly admitted that the club’s ongoing sale of key players has finally “caught up” with them this season.
Over the years, Stellies have parted ways with several important figures, including Olwethu Makhanya, Jayden Adams, Iqraam Rayners, Fawaaz Basadien, Sihle Nduli, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Antonio van Wyk and Deano Van Rooyen, among others.
While the club has often been labelled a “selling club,” they previously managed to recruit and develop talent effectively to fill those gaps.
However, this season has told a different story. Their performances have dipped significantly, leaving them in an unfamiliar ninth position with 28 points after 22 matches, outside the top eight.
Benadie acknowledged that, although they believed their recruitment, at the beginning of the campaign, was strong enough to replace outgoing players, the drop in performance suggests otherwise.
“I think it’s a challenge [losing key players] not just for Stellenbosch, but for many clubs but we do pride ourselves on developing players and making them better,” said Benadie.
“So, you are right, every season, almost, we’re losing very key players. And we’ve done a great job at recruitment over the last number of years in thinking ahead, that perhaps ‘We might lose Jayden [Adams], we might lose Iqraam Rayners, we might lose Fawaaz [Basadien] and then try and secure somebody else before the player actually goes.
“This year, to be very honest with you, some of our recruitments hasn’t worked out the way we wanted to. So, yes, maybe it’s caught up with us a little bit, it’s key players.
“But especially, with foreigners coming in, you never know how quickly they get to adapt to the local team. So, there was a number of different factors that why I think it did catch up to us this year.
“I thought we had one of our best, or we thought, one of our best squads with regards to quality in each position. In other words, the depth of the squad last year and the start of this year is very good. But yet we weren’t performing enough.
“So, we’ve looked at ourselves, we’ve done an introspection to see what is the problem. On field, off field, with our systems, with our processes, with our coaching, with our development, with everything. And we’ve identified a few things and we’re busy adapting to that and changing to that.
“Obviously, with the new coach, he’s also got his own ideas. So, you can see now the, you know, the personnel that he’s using, the way he’s playing. It’s a little bit different to Steve’s [Barker].
“Just like it would have been no matter who we chose. So, we have to, as players and staff in a club, we have to get used to that and support him 100%.”
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