Stating that the 2022-2023 DStv campaign will rank as one of the less memorable seasons is not a stretch too far.
A title race that was decided many moons before the last game, with dubious decision-making and too few goals — 12 in 30 games? Why must people pay randelas to watch this?
Nobody can begrudge Mamelodi Sundowns for strolling to a stunning sixth successive league title triumph... a moment to savour for Rulani Mokwena. He and his unit of Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau, Peter Shalulile and Cassius Mailula emerged with awards for the PSL coach, goalkeeper, defender, player, midfielder, striker, and young player of the season.
Orlando Pirates players asked for a braai to salute a season that concluded with the collection of two trophies and second spot finish, which secured qualification for the Caf Champions League.
Such is the huge points difference that were the log standings the Bhuj Khalifa, the Brazilians would be perched at the summit of the skyscraper — with the Buccaneers and third-placed SuperSport United located 16 and 19 floors below, with the club that finished fifth, Kaizer Chiefs, 26 levels down.
A grand finale has been a foreign concept for our league. How the rest of the teams surrendered the challenge to stop Sundowns in their tracks sealed the script — a tale of waning competitiveness.
By Christmas, Sundowns had no challengers, leaving rivals to eat dust in their wake.
Richards Bay looked like contenders. They flattered to deceive. In the end, they slipped to a point of near-relegation. The rest didn’t come on board. By December the league was already decided. In place of Father Christmas, the cards bore the image of Tlhopi Motsepe. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Juxtapose that against an enthralling cat and mouse race between Arsenal and Manchester City. It ended when Mikel Arteta’s enterprising younglings ran out of exuberant steam — and their spirited bid to dethrone Manchester City ended in tatters.
Borussia Dortmund plotted to overthrow Bayern Munich as Bundesliga lords. The plot went according to plan, only for the palace coup to collapse on the last day of action. Dramatic stuff until the end.
Ours was a season as flat as a drink without fizz. Moments of brilliance were scarce. You have better luck finding the teeth of a chicken, or the breasts of a snake. Yusuf Maart’s long-shot that banished Siyabonga Mpontshane to the bench is the sole incandescent act that lingers in the mind from the famed Soweto derby.
PSL peers gave Monnapule Saleng the players’ player plaudit. He also won the MTN8 last man standing accolade, his free-kick goal in the final the only set piece in nine matches.
Downs’ Mailula was catchy in his breakthrough on the big stage. But there was little to write home about. Another highlight was the Chiefs contingent celebrating being drawn against Pirates in the Nedbank Cup semifinals.
Unholy were Christian Saile’s glaring misses. Forget the striker’s defensive header against Pirates. Him completely missing the ball in the same match with the goal at his mercy, was a runaway howler to be filed in Ripley’s Believe or Not entry levels.
A paucity of goals, 12 to be exact, saw Peter Shalulile and Khanyisa Mayo share the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot. Shalulile was injured on October 1. He recovered in December and scored enough goals to share the top goal-scorer spoils with Mayo on 12 goals. We have seen this movie before in even worse shape.
In the 2006-2007 season, Jomo Cosmos striker Chris Katongo scored 15 goals before Jomo Sono sold him to Brondy of Denmark SuperLiga in midseason. The Zambian returned to South Africa to collect the top goal-scorer award. Only Siyabonga Nomvethe managed the 20 goals mark in 2011-2012.
There was also a faux pas in the mix that left Maritzburg United owner Farouk Kadodia frothing at the mouth: a fixture fiasco that saw his club play their final match four days ahead of fellow teams facing the axe. Those who follow football know that Sundowns are a regular feature in the continent’s premier club competition.
“You can foretell that they will progress into the knockout stages and take that into consideration when drawing up the domestic programme. You simply do not put the last PSL fixtures on the Caf weekend because you’re going to have a problem,” lamented an official familiar with fixturing.
“You’re only inviting trouble by doing so because you end up with Sundowns having a Caf semifinal on the same weekend they must play Maritzburg United. That is bad fixturing.”
Other relegation candidates knew what to do. It talks to bad planning and creates unnecessary noise and leaves a blot on the book of the league.
Little was made of the manner relegation-threatened Chippa United achieved their goalless draw against Golden Arrows. Clips of the game showing Arrows players nonchalantly passing the ball around in their own half flooded social media, the kind of tomfoolery usually seen in off-season tournaments.
It was slapstick comedy on a platform that professes to be professional.
It would have been funny were it not so tragic, as the goalless stalemate saw Chippa avoid relegation. Describing it as a subterfuge could be stretching it a bit, but there is little to stop the imagination of observers from running away.
Arrows are a club owned by a seemingly permanent acting PSL CEO. That display makes the professional ambit of the league appear worthless and foolish.
In the Mostepe Foundation Championship, a sniff of suspected sporting chicanery hung in the air when coach of Pretoria Callies Kwanele Kopo seemed to question the way his team conceded four first-half goals that helped Polokwane City gain ascendency to the PSL.
Kopo was left perplexed. “Anybody that is sitting at home watching TV and anybody watching from the stadium ... look at how we conceded those goals. It raises lot of questions. I think we got people to have thoughts of selling the match through our first-half performance.”
Such misdeeds undermine the credibility of the PSL and are not fitting with the standards of a league that professes to be the best in Africa.
This was the first season post-Covid with no restrictions in public gatherings. Attendance numbers showed promising signs when the season began but the numbers dwindled.
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