SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews has explained what happened in the Keagan Dolly transfer after the player had passed his medical ahead of his expected move.
Dolly, 31, looked poised to join SuperSport shortly after leaving Kaizer Chiefs upon the expiry of his contract at the Soweto giants.
However, the move fell through and SuperSport went on to sign Vincent Pule who had parted ways with Orlando Pirates one season into his three-year deal.
“I couldn’t sign Vincent Pule and Keagan Dolly, so that’s Gavin’s choice and he’s best suited to that kind of question, my job is to support the coach, and he’s worked with Vincent before,” Matthews said at their ACDC Express sponsorship announcement.
“He feels Vincent can play wide left, as a 10, he knows his training, his pressing style, he knows what Gavin wants from him, and I think maybe Gavin was a bit uncertain, we did the medical and he was fine… but when it came down to a selection of A or B, it was the coaches call and I look to try and close up what he wants, and he wanted Vincent.
“So I told Vincent today, I tried to sign him seven years ago and his numbers were greedy, so I’m glad that old age has opened his mind up to being at SuperSport, finally. But he’s a player we’ve always liked. I don’t know Vincent or Keagan from a bar of soap, hardly interacted with either, so it’s nothing personal.”
Matthews went on to clarify their system of signing players and confirmed two or three more signings will be made to strengthen Hunt’s squad before the end of the current transfer window.
“It was about looking at the options out there and giving the coach the widest that he has and if those can come in within our budget parameters and if they make sense from a continuity and planning perspective then we look at it. We’ve had a lot of characters in the last few weeks… Gavin, and I… my Chairman Khulu Sibiya and my board members – we have regular meetings to debate these things,” he continued.
“So it’s for Gavin, Grant, Andre, Paul Matthews, the team manager to motivate who they want, why they want them and then we discuss, we ask questions, then we agree, and if I can reach terms with those players, then they become SuperSport players but there won’t be more than two or three signings for us, it just they might take a bit longer because the window is still open and we haven’t found exactly what we’re looking for in one or two key positions.”
SuperSport opened their season on Saturday against Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 at Orlando Stadium.
