Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Mabhuti Khenyeza says since they are punching above their weight this season the spotlight from the media is not shining on them but when they were struggling last term, the media was all over them.
Arrows, despite the limited budget, have started this season brightly, lying second in the DStv Premiership table with 17 points after eight matches, seven points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
To have collected 17 points in eight league matches it is Arrows’ best start to a season in 15 years, since collecting 18 points in the 2008/09 season under Manqoba Mnqithi.
In the following that term as they nestled in the top eight, they won the MTN8 when they annihilated Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) 6-0 which is still the biggest score line in the knockout final in the PSL era.
Abafana Bes’Thende are also through to the Carling Knockout quarter finals after they thrashed Cape Town City 3-1 over the weekend. They will now face AmaZulu away on 4 November.
“I thought you are not aware that we are number two,” Khenyeza cheekily said when asked if no one is paying attention to Arrows’ start this season unlike last term.
“We have been there for close to two months but I thought you were not aware. But again there is no pressure.
“If you talk about pressure, even where you are working, you get pressure. We need to embrace the pressure and carry on.
“We told ourselves this season that we can’t be an average team every time and I was not aware that we are number two because I was aware last season we were in the relegation zone because everyone was writing about us.”
When pressed if he blames the media that they are not paying too much attention to them, he said it was important to acknowledge the work done at the club because the football industry is driven by results.
“I don’t blame anyone, but it is important to put the same focus on us to keep the momentum,” he said.
“But some of our players are still young, we need to try to control them to stay grounded all the time. The people that are the problem are those outside – starting with families, friends and everything and then you guys come slowly and say ‘the boy is starting to mature after playing one game’.
“At the end of the day the season is still long. But you guys (media) must help us to see these boys mature. If the boy played well just say ‘keep it up’, we are also doing the same thing.”
You can read Velile Mnyandu’s interview with Khenyeza in this week’s edition of the iDiski Times newspaper below…
