OPINION: Kaizer Chiefs midfielder’s nomination is just plain odd
It seems strange that there was not another young player worthy of a nomination, who played more than 44 minutes, and whose side made it beyond the last 32.
Njabulo Blom, seen here playing his only half in this season’s Nedbank Cup, against Richards Bay. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix.
The most bizarre nomination announced by the Premier Soccer League ahead of their end-of-season awards gala has to be that of Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Njabulo Blom, who made it onto the list of three candidates for the Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament.
ALSO READ: Ngcobo yearns for Kaizer Chiefs fans again after Tanzania trip
Blom played 44 minutes of one match for Amakhosi in the 2021 Nedbank Cup, as they were dumped out of the competition in the last 32 by GladAfrica Championship side Richards Bay. The young midfielder came on for the second half, and by no account made an impact worthy of a nomination, but there he is, alongside Khanyisa Mayo of Richards Bay, and Chippa United’s Maloisane Makhele.
#PSLAwards2021 Nominees Announcement :
Category: Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament pic.twitter.com/UrVdb1JZiU
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) May 26, 2021
Kaizer Chiefs fans will not be complaining as one of their own, a fan favourite in fact, Njabulo Blom has been nominated, but it comes as a surprise that Blom gets the nod. Was there no one from a team that went a little further in the competition, from TTM, finalists along with Chippa, to the other semifinalists Mamelodi Sundowns and Pretoria Callies?
PSL Awards
Congratulations to the current Toyota Corolla Player That Has It All, Njabulo Blom for being nominated in the Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament category.
Good luck!#Amakhosi4Life #PSLAwards2021 pic.twitter.com/AfpAkRhOBl
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) May 26, 2021
Njabulo Blom played just one Nedbank Cup game, mind you he featured for a measly 44 minutes in that game, (the first round their lost 2-1 to second tier’s Richards Bay back in Feb), and now he’s nominated for the tournament’s Most Promising Player Award. A joke!
— Sihle Ndebele (@SihleNdebeleSK) May 26, 2021
On to more serious matters …
The Footballer of the Season, the gong is almost certainly headed to Chloorkop as Themba Zwane and Peter Shalulile are both nominated. Zwane had a clean sweep last season, claiming this title, the Players’ Player of the Season and Midfielder of the Season and he is nominated for all those awards again.
Maritzburg United’s Thabiso Kutumela is the other nomination for Footballer of the Season, but he has to be a massive outsider.
It is no brainer that Zwane deserves to walk away with at least one award, and that might be the Midfielder of the Season while Shalulile could bag the other two (Footballer of the Season and Player’s Player). There are very few superlatives to describe the Namibian’s influence in the Sundowns side since he joined at the start of the season. He is by far the best signing across the whole of the PSL.
You can search the length and breadth of South African shores and it will be hard to find a striker who gives you a return of 20 odd goals a season, and Shalulile, even though he has not hit that mark yet, is quite close as he has banged in 18 goals across all competitions. Masandawana have got four remaining games in the DStv Premiership and there is no doubt that Shalulile can score two more goals.
Not only does he score the goals but he is also often one to play the final pass to his teammates to rattle the net, to the point that his coach, Manqoba Mngqithi, has described him as a “soldier” and one of the most “hard-working” players he has ever coached.
