Ajax Cape Town and Chippa United are Cape Towns representatives in Premier Soccer League this season.Ajax by far the more experienced and established of the two sides, playing in their 14th PSL season this year,while Chippa on the other hand are playing their first ever season in the top tier of South African Football after gaining amazing back-to-back promotions,first from SAFA's Vodacom 2nd division in 2011 and then the National First Division 2012,its hard to believe the club was only founded in 2010!
The Urban Warriors and the Chilli Boyz as they're more commonly referred to have had a torrid time in the league this season, and as a result both teams find themselves rooted to the bottom of the log, and with only 9 games left of the season things aren't looking up for the Cape based teams.
Only two seasons ago Ajax Cape Town had one hand on the PSL trophy, all they had to do was win their final game of the season,which was played at the beautiful Cape Town satdium and infront of 45 000 ajax fans, but due to some silly defensive errors and a horrendous goalkeeping blunder from the legendary Hans Vonk the Cape side saw the title slip through their fingers, and since that day the footballing Gods haven't been looking favorably on the 'mighty' Urban Warriors, last season they finished a mediocre 9th in the league, but to be honest Ajax have always been a mediocre team(if stats are anything to go by), and their league form over their past14 seasons in the PSL has been nothing short of erratic!
So why has a team with arguably the best academy system in South Africa and the backing of their namesake in Netherlands never been able to dominate South African football and why do they find themselves in this rather precarious position at the moment? It's baffling that a club that has produced the likes of Steven Pienaar,Thulani serero,Franklin Cale and Sameehg doutie,to name a few, has only ever won three trophies(Telkom knockout 00' and 08',aswell as the Nedbank cup in 07).As a Ajax supporter myself its worrying when year after year my team finishes mid-table,sells their best players and manage to win no silverware.
The backroom staff at Ajax have left me flabbergasted in the last 4 years,partly because since 2009 they've sold their best players and replaced them with below average second-rate players how do you expect to build a title winning squad with this sort of mentality! Franklin Cale,Clayton Daniels,Thulani Serero,Sameehg Doutie,Bryce moon and Daylon claasen have all left the club in the past 4 years and the club has failed to replace Quality with Quality,instead they head to the bargain basement and find the cheapest replacement in whatever position they need! This has to be one of the main,amongst a host of many other, reasons the team is where they are at the moment.
Ajax have played 20 games this season and only picked up 4 victories,this speaks volumes about the kind of season they're having, you cant fault the players though they've given they're all in their matches they just don't have the depth or quality in their squad to be challenging the top teams in the league,that added to the 'constant' changing of managers is a recipe for disaster,but with 10 games left lets hope they still have few cards up their sleeve.
Chippa united,the new kids on the block, have played 21 games and only managed to pick up a measly 3 victories all season find themselves anchored to the bottom of the log,unsurprisingly to most,with controversial decisions from the clubs hierarchy throughout the season which saw the clubs manager change A gob-smacking 4 times already this season!
The Chilli Boyz' board might have gone wayward with their managerial decisions, but the players they've brought in, in the two transfer windows to ensure they stay in the PSL next season have been top class, bringing in Stanton Lewis,Brent Carelse,Masibuzane Zongo, Mbuleo 'OJ' Mabizela,William Twala and Benjani Mwaruwari!with only 9 games left the Chilli Boyz will have to dig deep and end their season strong if they want any chance of beating the drop
remaing fixtures
AJAX
AmaZulu (H)
Sundowns (A)
Free State Stars (H)
Orlando Pirates (H)
Black Leopards (A)
Bidwest Wits (H)
Chippa United (A)
Kaizer Chiefs (H)
Maritzburg Utd (A)
Golden Arrows (H)CHIPPA
Maritzburg Utd (A)
Golden Arrows (H)
Supersport Utd (A)
Swallows (H)
Platinum Stars (A)
Ajax (H)
Orlando Pirates (A)
TUKS (H)
AmaZulu (A)
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 39 | 14 | 25 | 47 | |
| 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 42 | |
| 21 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 38 | |
| 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 32 | |
| 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 29 | |
| 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 21 | 23 | -2 | 29 | |
| 21 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 28 | |
| 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 28 | |
| 21 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 26 | |
| 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 25 | |
| 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 23 | |
| 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 24 | -4 | 23 | |
| 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 23 | |
| 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 20 | |
| 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 18 | |
| 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 16 | |
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