Moroka Swallows winger Gregory Damons says they need to unite as a team to overcome the tumultuous period that’s seen them lose Steve Komphela and more than half their squad.
Swallows financial issues has been well documented over the past two seasons with players and technical staff often being paid late or not at all in certain months.
The 2023/24 season has reached new levels of mismanagement as their final two games of the year were walkover results against Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows as the players refused to honour the fixtures in strike over unpaid salaries.
It resulted in 22 players being sacked after internal disciplinary hearings, however, a couple has since returned, while Komphela parted ways via a mutual agreement.
“It’s a bit different [without Steve] but we’ve been with them [Nyatama, Mototo, Ngobeni] since last season when Coach Ernst [Middendorp] left, so with the new players they just need to find their feet, find understanding with [the squad],” Damons said.
“We need to get our unity back and hopefully come out on top again. We’re more prepared [after something similar happened last season] we just need to unite as a team, go out there, play and not worry about what’s happening behind the scenes, just to make a name for ourselves.”
Swallows beat PLatinum City Rovers on penalties to set up a last-16 tie against AmaTuks, which Damons admits can be a tricky one – but with the players set out on playing for their futures, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain in a historic cup run.
“Tough fixture, playing against a lower division side is tough, they can run for the whole 90 minutes, but at the end of it we just want to give it our all, we both having nothing to lose, seeing that they are top of the league,” Damons said.
“They also wanna challenge for the Nedbank but just basically give it our all and hopefully get to the last eight. We have nothing to lose, we just need to give it our all and hopefully, we can go on to win it.”
Swallows take on Kaizer Chiefs this weekend in their Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium (17h30).
