Cape Town Spurs head coach Ernst Middendorp says the club will be looking to go to the market in the new year, but warns that they need to sign the right players, while also hoping Boitumelo Radiopane can make a big contribution.
Middendorp joined Spurs, who are bottom of the DStv Premiership table, last month and the German mentor, who is no stranger to saving teams from the brink, told iDiski Times that the club need to sign smartly if they are to survive.
The club has already brought in former Stellenbosch captain Rafiq De Goede, who was a free agent after leaving Maritzburg United at the end of last season.
Middendorp says that they will now be pushing to find the right players, those who have a strong mentality and the ability to battle in a relegation slog.
“Ja, I made it already clear that in certain areas, we have to do something,” Middendorp told iDiski Times.
“We have to look really into the quality of the market. The problem is and I can repeat it the problem is not with money, you will not with a higher budget, you will not really make it happen.
“The bigger problem is more than less to find the right quality, to find the right player. Good players are prepared for a relegation battle and good players are not prepared for a relegation battle.
“That means it’s not about a good player, a good player must have the mentality, must be strong, must be ugly, must be really aware about it, what is it?
“You don’t solve this type of issues, this type of challenges with just playing and being nice and entertaining. This is a very, very strong job to do. And I know what I’m talking about, my last years have been with the team in Maritzburg, nine games one point going into the following year, and ja, in the end, you are still in the league.
“I think it’s a really long work over four or five months, with a good pre-season in January and hopefully, ja, we find here and there a player where we think this player can help us.”
Middendorp says De Goede is someone who will increase the competition in the squad, and says he is looking forward to being able to field someone like Boitumelo Radiopane, who is working hard to get back to fitness for when the league resumes in February.
“Ja it’s definitely someone, who opens on a good competitiveness,” Middendorp said.
“On the other side I don’t think only about a player coming from outside like Rafiq, I also think about Radiopane, Boitumelo, a player who is in training sessions with us, getting better and better, having a pre-season with us.
“And I’m expecting definitely, it’s a new player. It’s a new player for the team. And he will definitely as I have seen it now, despite he’s only 21, but he has a very grown up style.
“He will definitely contribute significantly, we will see.”
