MJ MGCINI AN OPEN LETTER TO DR. IRVIN KHOZA

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am a nobody but it is the love I have for the team you happen to lead and the pain that this team is putting millions of its fans through that forced me to write this letter. The damage done cannot be quantified. The performance of the team or its lack thereof has relegated it to a junk status. What is it that I am trying or failing to say?

In every community, society or institution; the worst & biggest mistake that can happen is having a series of serious problems yet no one is to blame for them; that makes it harder to find the solution.

The management say they are not to blame, the players say it's not their fault, the coaches say it's more than meets the eye. Maybe it's us the supporters who are to blame; but for what? I don't know. Should we maybe play in an empty stadium to check that? Time will tell.

Coaches have changed, players, have changed, fitness trainers have changed, even some fans have jumped ship. We have played against different teams in different venues with different referees but the team's mediocrity hasn't changed. Someone somehow somewhere has to answer.

I have identified some of the problems that led to this dismal 80th anniversary showing by our BELOVED BUCS but allow me to say all those problems are resulting from a much bigger problem:

*Our transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired. We never replace players based on what we need but just do panic buying. Instead of quality reinforcements for specific positions we keep on overloading the team with the same type of players for the same position. Isn't it strange that for many years we have been buying new players only to bench them and then release them without giving them a proper chance. Mkhize of CTC was signed and let go without kicking a ball, Mthiyane, Gumede and Munetsi are doing well for their teams but were never given a chance at Bucs. Our defence was lacking but the team allowed Gyimah & Chabalala to go. Players who are leaders & fighters are released season after season, for example Klate & Mahamutsa.

*The issue of interference cannot be ignored. Time and again, former players and coaches mention it. All those people can't be making up stories. That has to be addressed. *It is not a secret that we don't have a proper goalkeeper coach. All our goalkeepers can't have butter fingers & make schoolboy errors one after the other. Ironically it's only Happy Jele an outfield player who has kept a clean sheet as a Bucs keeper.

*Ever since Jali left, his position hasn't been replaced. No disrespect to the guys playing in his position but you can't replace a horse with a donkey. They might look alike but they are not the same.

*We never got a replacement for Senzo Meyiwa (may he rest in peace). Yes we do have goalkeepers but when a honey jar is empty, filling it up with syrup won't give you honey. *Favouritism is there for all to see. Some players will always play (names withheld) regardless of the results or their below par performance. What's puzzling is that all the different coaches have continued with those same players which raises eyebrows and reminds us of the word "INTEFERENCE". *We don't have a leader in that team. Back then we had guys like Legkwathi, Mahamutsa, Klate, Jali, Sangweni, Meyiwa and even Benni. Is it hard to attract leaders to Bucs again? I am not trying to tell you or teach you how a club must be run, you have been in the game for far too long that you have seen some of the problems I mentioned & all I am doing is begging you to find the main cause of all those other problems & uproot the thorns from this beautiful flower garden of ours called Bucs.

As fans we don't get paid, we don't get any incentive from the money the team generates, we use our hard earned cash to travel to games & buy the team's merchandise, we are the ones who face abuse, ridicule and mockery from our rivals. The only way the team MUST pay us back is through winning and playing beautiful football. Is that too much to ask? We are not saying Bucs must never lose because in every football match, there are four possible outcomes namely win, draw, loss or abandoned match. All we are saying is that the players must show hunger and a fighting spirit. They must remember that the team comes first & they come last that's why the team's name is on the front of their jerseys and their names at the back.

It is better to play well & lose with dignity than to win with directionless football. From the first game of the 2016/17 season, Bucs were a disaster waiting to happen because the whole team was a jumble sale of wrong ideas. This has to be fixed. Hoping for a better upcoming season.

Yours truly in sadness � MJ Mgcini

Once & Always since 1937