By: Sekonyela Qaitsane
In the aftermath of a below par 2023/24 season by their standards, it comes as no surprise that Bantu FC is already exploring the market for possible reinforcements in key areas.
Bantu has been consistent with outsourcing players from South Africa (SA) in recent years, and this year will be no exception according to the Club’s head coach James Madidilane.
Speaking to Informative Newspaper, he confirms that there are two players the club has already identified from SA, and is considering recruiting them in no distant future.
Without disclosing names, the 37 year old tactician states that they also have a couple of local players on their wishlist. In total, he highlights that the club will sign not less than four players this pre-season,
“Of course there are areas we feel the need to reinforce within the team. I am in no position to disclose names at the moment but we will make plus or minus four additions to the current squad in preparation for the new season. A defender, a striker and a creative winger or maybe a number ten.
However, I still believe in the material we have at our disposal at the moment. It is just that things were not happening for the club this season. We still have a squad capable of competing for cups and the championship. We just need a few new faces that can give us what we lacked this season” he says.
He admits that coming late into the club with about eleven games left in the league, there was not much he could change. But going into the new season, he emphasizes that, given a chance, he will do his best, working alongside his technical team to bring back the smile on Bantu supporters’ faces.
Position three, however, is still a decent position for a club of Bantu’s calibre and, offers a better basis to build on, going into the new season.
He goes on to congratulate Lioli for Winning the 2023/24 season citing that they have worked for it and therefore “undoubtedly deserve it”.
The former Bafana Bafana captain’s future with ‘A Mats’o Matebele’ is still hanging in the balance, having signed a six months contract in January, assuming the reigns from Bob Mafoso.
He is on his second stint at the club, having first joined in 2016. In his first season, he won the premiership tittle and went on to defend it in the 2017/18 season.
During his first spell that ended in 2019, Madidilane led Bantu in 98 games, winning 65, drawing 20 and losing only 13 of them.
In total, he won three trophies while also making history as the first coach to guide a local club into the first round of the CAF Champions League by knocking out Botswana giants Township Rollers.
If he continues with the club, Madidilane will be subject to his own success, expected to replicate and surpass his previous achievements that wrote his name deep down in Bantu supporter’s hearts.