Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Mabhuti Khenyeza has questioned whether the fans’ voting is the right option to select the Man of the Match in the Carling Knockout Cup, saying some players earned it without breaking a sweat on the pitch.
Arrows will face AmaZulu in the Durban Derby at Moses Mabhida Stadium in the Carling Knockout quarter-final on Saturday (19:00), in what will be double-header as Richards Bay will host Orlando Pirates earlier at the same venue.
Khenyeza was asked whether now that some so-called big teams are out of this competition does it present an opportunity to see the right players getting the Man of the Match awards, and he questioned whether the fans’ voting was the right option.
“I don’t know the dynamics of the selection criteria,” Khenyeza started.
The Man of the match of the Carling Knockout Cup is selected by fans, who can either vote by dealing *120*660# or visit: http://carlingblacklabelcup.co.za, but it has caused some debate as it seems some selections are more based on popularity of the players than the actual match performance.
“Even you can be standing, you are selected and maybe one day they will select the referee, you don’t know because it doesn’t go straight to [the] person that deserves it,” Khenyeza continued.
“Let us be honest, you saw in the games that have been played, someone just walks and get R100,000. Someone smiles and gets R100,000. Maybe one day the referee will be Man of the Match.
“Maybe one day the Man of the Match won’t be voted because some fans would be angry [because their choice is not there].
“Look at our game against Cape Town City, Khanyisa Mayo, he was just merely walking and won R100,000. Another match [between Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu] – Keagan Dolly and Thembinkosi Lorch [Orlando Pirates vs Cape Town Spurs] and another Richards Bay against Moroka Swallows, Andile Jali. Now it leaves you with questions about the criteria used.
“That’s why I’m saying you would be shocked one day when small teams play in the final, you will find that there is no Man of the Match and maybe they will give it to the referee.”
Carling Black Label has continued to give the power to the fans to vote for the Man of the Match, having done so with the Carling Black Label Cup that was played as a once-off game between Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs in previous years, where fans used to select the starting line-ups and the subs.
Fans can also win up to R90,000 in each game by predicting the correct minute in which the first goal of each quarter-final match will be scored.
