Dladla demands focus from Richards Bay ahead of Chippa clash
“We now have to put our priorities in place, our priority has always been the league," said Dladla.
Simo Dladla coach of Richards Bay (Pic Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix)
Richards Bay FC coach Simo Dladla says they know what their priorities are going into their Nedbank Cup quarter-final clash against Chippa United away from home Saturday.
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Dladla, who has managed to keep the KwaZulu-Natal outfit on top of the GladAfrica Championship table, says squad rotation will help his charges to keep their focus, with the main objective being promotion to the DStv Premiership at the end of the season.
“We now have to put our priorities in place, our priority has always been the league. You would see with the way we out up our team. There are lots of changes as we are trying to split the focus. The players were focusing more on the league, of course we respect the competition the Nedbank Cup and we don’t have anything to lose )we have to be competitive). But again, we feel like this time around we have to give other players an opportunity to showcase their talents and show us what they can offers,” said the Richards Bay coach.
Dladla, who joined the team during the current season, added that it took time for him as well as the players to adjust to his arrival even though they have been doing well both in the league and the Ke Yona Cup.
“When I got here I didn’t have time to train the team, I got here on the second, but already we were about to play Free State Stars on the fourth away, then my official game was against Cape Umoya. But one thing that has changed is that the relationship has got stronger between me and the players. They now understand my ideas, we know that it takes time for players to understand the coach’s philosophy. So, it also takes time for the coach to understand the players strength, their capabilities and their weakness as well.”
The Natal Rich Boys have enjoyed a successful run in the Nedbank Cup, which saw them knock out Kaizer Chiefs and TS Sporting in the previous rounds.
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