Club bosses must stop fooling players – Mashego
Former Maritzburg United and Free State Stars defender Tshegofatso Mashego says club owners need to keep the promises they make to their players.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – 13 September 2006, Tshegofatso Mashego during the PSL match between Engen Santos and Maritzburg United at Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo by Tertius Pickard / Gallo Images
Mashego says that breaking promises leads to players being dejected which puts a team in danger of relegation.
The defender said this in the wake of clubs such as Bloemfontein Celtic struggling to pay their players.
Mashego recalls how the former club boss at Tembisa Classic Thabo Masilela was transparent about the club’s finances.
“Our boss (Thabo Masilela) by then was a taxi owner and had a bottle store. And he ran into financial problems but he put the team first,” Mashego told Phakaaathi.
“When we got promoted I think he realised that running team in the PSL would cost a lot more.
“He would always sit us down when he couldn’t pay us and let us know tell us, ‘Gents I won’t be able to pay you right now’.
“He is one bosses that would assist us individually when we had financial problems at home. At some point he sold a taxi and paid the money to the players. And some owners don’t do that.
“We need bosses like that who take the players needs seriously and explain why things are the way they are.”
Mashego says club bosses should not only see teams as an investment but to remember that they are built by the support of players on the field.
“When we started we wanted to save the status of Classic. Then we won games.
“He was involved in the team and would come talk to us every Monday to see if we are okay and find out how he could assist us with a problems we were facing. He would always talk about the supporters and people of Tembisa that loved the team.”
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