AmaZulu are staring a familiar monster in the face. The frightening creature is the big drop to the National First Division - a league they managed to excuse themselves from in 2017 by shelling out close to R50m to buy the status of promoted Thanda Royal Zulu after battling two seasons, without success, to regain the top flight status.
In total, Usuthu have suffered the axe four times since the launch of the Premier Soccer League in 1996-97.
The current situation would not have been so dire had Usuthu coach Josef Vukusic's team managed to gather at least five points in their last five Absa Premiership matches this year. Instead, the Durban club has picked up just one point to remain with 17 in the basement that they share with three equally miserable Limpopo clubs, Baroka FC, Black Leopards and Polokwane City.
Meagre pickings
Four defeats against Mamelodi Sundowns (3-0), SuperSport United (2-0), Maritzburg United (1-0) and Orlando Pirates (1-0) and an away 2-2 draw against Cape Town City was all that Usuthu managed to produce in January.
Vukusic is, however, still hopeful of both keeping his job and rescuing the team from the dreaded axe in the remaining 10 league ties, including today's against an equally embattled Polokwane.
"I'm not in this alone and five matches don't make AmaZulu," was Vukusic's response as questions around his future were fired at him this week.
Unlike CT City and Stellenbosch FC, who were hovering near the bottom in December but had a better run in January to move closer to the top eight, Vukusic's team has simply failed to garner enough points to move away from the bottom.
One glimmer of hope has been the form of Bonginkosi Ntuli, the Usuthu striker who is mingling with the league's top scorers after scoring 10 of Usuthu's meagre 11 league goals in 20 matches.
Ironically, Vukusic says he doesn't care how many goals Ntuli scores all alone for the club - as long as they keep the team in the top flight.
"I don't care how many goals he [Ntuli] scores. If he scores 30, that's fine with me," said the Slovakian coach.
But the fact that Ntuli is the only one netting goals makes Vukusic's game plan easy to read for opponents who are keeping tight tabs on him.
AmaZulu have signed former Lamontville Golden Arrows attacker Siphelele Magubane and Vukusic's countryman, Milos Lacny, to support Ntuli.
Today's game presents Vukusic with a prime opportunity to forge a run that could save his job. Anything less than three points may well signal the end of his stay in Durban, barely five months after his arrival.
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