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The Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Broken Fan Belt And A Flat Tyre.


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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - New Club - 2023/24

League Table

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Manager's Thoughts

Your probably thinking why South Africa,well it's the first time I have managed in South Africa and I have never played in the African Champions League let alone win it which is a challenge to prove myself considering my time at Zenit and Bayern was far too easy for large spells of it.Free State Stars are really just underachieving and shouldn't be near the bottom as they do have a team capable of mid-tabe.I've signed a contract till 2027 and I think we should be one of the teams challenging around the top by then as a tiny bit of quality in the team will help provide a difference.

I am in a fairly good position as we can have five foreigners in the starting XI in which I have a grand total of zero in the team so that gives me a clean slate to sign who I want foreign player wise.I have already identified my targets for the foreign market as I want a GK,DM,AML,AMR and ST as this is where we are lacking,I have already seen a AML from Ghana who is going to be quality and is available on a free transfer which is brilliant.It is a fairly close league so I am pretty confident that we can move up the table.I will be employing the same tactics I've used at Zenit and Bayern so it will be an attacking 4-3-3 with 4-2-4 as backup.

Let the long road to the African Champions League begin!

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We literally have one stand out player who I am going to need to build the team around.

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I just need another 10 high quality players and this should be easy :lol: I've got 4 other players coming in January which will take it to 5 players which could possibly 6 then it will be a case of bringing in South African youngsters.

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DodgeeD - I thought I may as well go for something I have never won in the African CL and so far there has only been 1 winner from S.Africa since 2012.

AK22 - The first thing I did was give him a new contract as it was going to be up in the summer!

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He is indeed,there is quite a lot of talent in the African countries,especially in Ghana but with only five foreign spots,I cannot get too greedy so once I have the foreigners in then I will look to the South African talent.

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - December and January - 2023/24

Fixtures

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League Table

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Manager's Thoughts

We made what appears to be a stunning start as we've won 6 and drew 2 of my first eight games in charge,the downside to all this is that we've not faced any of the top four sides so gaining ground on them can appear a but tricky.We made five signings for £215k and there impact has been phenomenal,especially Many Ateba who cost me £35k and has scored seven goals in five appearances!We have a very good side for where we are and I feel that we should be higher up considering this team was quite good when I came and is even better now!We still have the South African FA Cup to play for which looks to be our best opportunity to qualify for continental football next season!

I honestly thought that it would be a long road to the African Champions League,turns out FS Stars came 2nd last season and are playing in the Champions League this season so that has shortened the road by quite a bit,guess I should have looked at the finer details when joining!February and March are very tough months for us as we face the top four in the league so that will give me a good view of how far off we actually are when compared to them.The FA Cup starts so and that will probably be my main focus as the winner gets a continental spot otherwise we would have to come in the top four to get a spot in either the African CL (1st and 2nd) or the African Confederation Cup (3rd and 4th with 4th being dependant on the FA Cup winners!).I will need the best out my players as first up is an away trip to Kaizer Chiefs in what will be a very tough two month period.

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That's the beauty of it,I didn't even have to find him as he was already at the club,he is came through the youth ranks but is now wanted by Ajax (the real one based in the Netherlands!).

I however did find this beauty,he is going to be better than O'Halloran and is the Cameroonian Sola.....Many Ateba,cost me £35k from Tiko Utd.Even Sola didn't have a u21 record like that!

ManyAteba_OverviewProfile_zps781b6735.png

Yes you are reading that right,11 games and 26 goals :eek:

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Acidburn - I feel anyone can manage the likes of Bayern and Zenit,I felt that I needed to prove to myself and where better then somewhere I've never managed before.I also feel with journeyman careers,you need somewhere where you wouldn't expect to manager to make it more memorable :D

AK22 - I'll be honest,I only wanted to pay £10k as I had to go and adjust the wage budget so it was more then I wanted :lol:

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Acidburn - I feel anyone can manage the likes of Bayern and Zenit,I felt that I needed to prove to myself and where better then somewhere I've never managed before.I also feel with journeyman careers,you need somewhere where you wouldn't expect to manager to make it more memorable :D

Couldn't agree more I am hoping to go to some places on my save that would be considered a huge step down for a lot of managers.

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - February and March - 2024

Fixtures

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League Table

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Manager's Thoughts

Well my brilliant Run ended at the end of March and that basically ended any outside chance we had of winning the title (it was practically zero anyway!).We've made a brilliant start in our my first ever campaign in the Champions League,we destroyed Buffles FC with a 13-0 aggregate victory and we have a commanding 5-1 lead against Coton Sport going into the second leg of the 1st round so we should be able to move on.The league has seen us fly up the league with five victories from six games which included a thriller against Ajax Cape Town and the destruction of our rivals Bloem Celtic.We also won in the South African Cup but my priority is finishing top 4 as we can go in the African Confederations Cup as a top 2 place is definitely out of reach so that means we can't qualify for the competition from the league.Not sure of the ruling for winning the African CL if we actually get a chance to defend or not.

April and May are here and that should give us at least three more games in the Champions League due to having a big advantage over Coton Sport.After the 2nd round then it will be July when the competition kicks back off.We have the FA Cup which we have a very tough tie against Jomo Cosmos who sit in 2nd in the league.Our remaining league games against Jomo Cosmos,Tuks,Thanda Royal Zulu and Sundowns in which I think 7 points will be a good return as I don't think we will get anything against Jomo cosmos.Many Ateba has been our hero with a remarkable 31 goals in 15 games,I must keep him at all costs.I have a remarkable left back who is joining in the Summer on a free,thank go for having World Class rep!

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Congratulations on that (another) clean sweep with Bayern, far too easy really it was time to leave.

I was shocked you went to a lower end of the table South African club though. :eek: Random. Diamini is insanely good for that level you're very lucky you have him, but then Ateba... well.. :D Awesome find, I'm sure you'll dominate South Africa next year then win the African Champions League in no time with a player like that.

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JackJCFC - If he moves to a bigger club then I won't have any decent forwards.He can only leave after I've left :lol:

deltablue - I know,I've been blessed to have so many epic forwards.Shame epic wingers are extremely rare!I think there are 6 of them in the world :D

DazRTaylor - He failed to score in one of the matches and I was considering fining him!

noikeee - Cheers fella :D To be fair,I thought it would be more entertaining to do something completely out of the blue,I will probably have left South Africa by 2027 which I think is when my contract ends.I have to make sure that Ateba leaves after me as he is the key to success,if I score more than the opposition then I win so who cares about defence :lol:

AK22 - I've had five really epic forwards in the last three FM's.I still rate Iker Sola first though followed by David Stewart on FM11!

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - April/May/June - 2024

Fixtures

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League Table

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Manager's Thoughts

We finished the season quite well to be fair,we would have done better in the league if I had taken over sooner but there is nothing I could have done about that.I am pleased to have won the SA Cup although we very nearly blew it in the Quarter-Final as we blew a 3-0 lead against Maritzburg Utd!The final could have been a lot worse for AmaZulu has our finishing was actually quite poor.Our Champions League progress has been delightful,we finished Coton Sport off to give us a 9-1 aggregate victory,the 2nd Round was a lot tougher as Moroccan side MA Tetouan actually gave us a fight,we managed to get through with a 4-2 aggregate victory.We've been drawn into a group with Al-Ahly,Es Tunis and kaizer Chiefs which is the tougher of the two groups.It's a strange format for me as the African Champions League doesn't kick back off till July,this could be a problem as we may not be back up to full match fitness!

I am pleased with how things have gone in my short time here and we can only get better!

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deltablue - Cheers fella :D I've already got two top class players coming in so I feel we are the team to watch in the new season!

Reinound - Cheers mate :D It's actually good to be in South Africa.That is my new aim now,I think we have an outside shot of winning the African Champions League this year :lol:

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - End of Season - 2023/24

2023/24 Transfers

For transfers,I am only responsible for those coming and going after the 1/1/24.I Spent £215k on players who could improve the squad massively,the biggest fee of mine was £180k on Asamoah who is going to become a excellent keeper in the future who should go on to play for Ghana at some point.I only had two players leave under my management,one to go out on loan for experience and one leave on a free transfer as he was demanding far too much money to stay.Mochubela wanted £7k p.w whereas I could only offer £2.3k p/w at most.Not too bothered as I have a top class replacement coming in for free!

Competitions

South African Premiership

League Table

Considering we were nearer to the bottom of the league when I took over,we made a remarkable recovery as we stormed up the table.If it were not for our FA Cup win then we would have missed out on a place in a the African Confederation Cup,due to winning it,it meant the Martizburg Utd missed out on playing the Confederation Cup.We actually finished the season as the 2nd highest scorers but it was quite easy tactically as most of the teams play without any sort of left or right midfielders so it was the case of exploiting the wings.Orlando Pirates are the team to beat next season and my aim is simple,to knock them off the top.

Champions League

Group Stages

Quite an unusual format with the gap between the 2nd round and the Group Stages.We were comprehensive winners in the preliminary round as we beat Buffles FC 13-0 on aggregate to go through.Coton Sport were next up and I thought they would be a lot more difficult but that was proven wrong as we beat the Camerooian side 9-1 on aggregate.We face Morroccan side MA Tetouan and they gave us a battle in both games,we won 4-2 but that came at a cost as we lost a player to injury and another was suspended.The Group stages has give us the tougher of the two groups but if we play to our best then we stand a good chance of going through.The Group Stages kick off in July and the only thing that is worrying me is a lack of match fitness.

Knockout Cup

1st Round

Wasn't in charge of the club when the competition was played and even so,it is a major disappointment as FS Stars could have easily challenged with the squad they had.

South African FA Cup

Winners

We were given a hard run to the final as we played 4 top flight teams before facing 1st division side AmaZulu in the final.We barely made it past Thanda Royal Zulu as we edged the game 1-0.The 2nd round was against high flying Jomo Cosmos and we stunned them as we ran out 4-1 winners which was our best performance in the competition.We faced Martizburg Utd in the Quarter-Final and even though we won 4-3,I was fuming as we threw away a 3 goal lead and it took a 121st minute winner to get through.The semi-final was a much better performance as we won 3-1 in what was actually a even game.The final was quite one sided,even though we won 4-0,I was quite disappointed in our finishing as we could have won by much more but I am pleased to have won a trophy in half a season.

Super8

Semi-Final

Wasn't in Charge for this competition,they made the semi-final which isn't too bad but we should be a lot more dangerous next season as we have a much stronger team.FS Stars last won this competition in 2021,I think we stand a good chance of doing well if I take it seriously.

Player's Stats and Awards

Best XI 23/24 - Overall Best XI

Quick Look at the Player Stats for the season.

Top Scorer

Many Ateba - 45 Goals

Best £35k I have ever spent,came in January from Tiko Utd,in the 26 games he appeared in,he scored 45 goals,provided 10 assists and averaged at 8.47 which is an amazing feat from the youngster.The only thing which has annoyed me is that he has been called up for Cameroon's Olympic team which is right round when we play in the Champions League.He is now worth £210k and that figure can only go up as he gets better.Will be my main goal scoring threat as long as I'm here.

Most Assists

Landry Koffi - 17 Assists

Another of the free transfers I made,Koffi came from Ivorian side Academie Jean-Marc Guillou.He made a positive impact after signing in January and topped the assist chart with 17.He also scored 7 goals and averaged at 7.66.His impressive form saw a media campaign start for him to get called up to the Ivory Coast squad in which he was and has now become a full international.He took a time to settle and I don't think we will see the best of him till next season.

Special Mention

Ransford Appiah

Was a free transfer from Ghanian side Hearts of Oak and made a very big impact as he played 27 times,scored 17 goals and provided 15 assists which was a brilliant return from the youngster who can only get better.He averaged at 7.91 and won Fans Player of the Year.He was this good at 18,wait till he hits his peak and he will probably be one of the best where ever he will be playing in which I seriously doubt it will be me.

Manager's Thoughts

Did what I could in my first five months in charge and we won a cup which was a bonus!The big news of my reign so far is that we have made it to the Group Stage of the Champions League which is only one step a way from a semi-final place.We definitely have the tougher of the two groups but if we can get through it then we definitely have a shot at winning the competition this year!We have a very good team being built and this will get stronger in the pre-season as I have arranged transfer for two extremely good talents who will both join the club on a free transfer so the future is looking bright which has been helped by my World Class rep!

I have three more years left on my contract and before that ends I want to get them back in the African CL,due to winning the S.A Cup,we will play in the Confederations Cup in 2025 as we didn't finish higher enough for a African CL place.There's not a lot I can do regarding facilities as the board don't seem interested in upgrading them but they are amongst the best in South Africa.The future is bright and the club are sitting nicely regarding finances and they can always be increased due to the players being sold as we have some very high quality ones at the club.

Season       Club          Division       Country      League       Cup       Continental    Avg.Att       Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012    Gangneung City    N-League       S.Korea       4th       3rd Rnd        N/A          1618     Playoff Defeat!
2013    Gangneung City    N-League       S.Korea       1st         Q.F          N/A          3540     Playoff Vitors!
2014    Gangneung City    K-League       S.Korea       4th       WINNERS        N/A          3707     FA Cup Winners!
2015    Gangneung City    K-League       S.Korea       3rd       WINNERS      WINNERS        4233     Left 18/11/15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Wigan Ath.     Championship     England       5th       6th Rnd        N/A         13218     Playoff Winners!
2016/17   Wigan Ath.      Premiership     England       8th      Runners Up      N/A         19551     Top half finish.
2017/18   Wigan Ath.      Premiership     England       5th*      3rd Rnd*       N/A         17379     Left in Dec 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       5th Rnd     Group Stage    42445     League Winners!
2018/19    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       WINNERS      WINNERS       50024      Won Treble!
2019/20    Zenit        Prem.Division     Russia        1st       WINNERS     Semi-Final     53101    Resigned at E.O.S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21  Bayern Munich  First Division    Germany       1st         Q.F        WINNERS       68158      Won Double!
2021/22  Bayern Munich  First Division    Germany       1st       WINNERS      WINNERS       70368      Clean Sweep!
2022/23  Bayern Munich  First Division    Germany       1st       WINNERS      WINNERS       69688      Clean Sweep!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24   F.S Stars     S.A Premiership  S.Africa       5th       WINNERS     Group Stage    12177     S.A Cup WINNERS!

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shnen - Looks like Francis is a very good player,although the younger Ateba is jealous of not earning as much.

Dexter_Morgan - It certainly is turning out to be interesting.I had rubbish centre forwards at Gangneung City and Wigan,an average one at Zenit and brilliant ones here and with Bayern so I think it is pretty even :D

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deltablue - It's a Eastern European dalek with African descent,looks African but has the thuggish attitude of some fans from Eastern Europe :D

AK22 - Cheers fella :D

Jason the Yank - :lol:

Sorry for the lack of updates,just got a new laptop and I'm still trying to figure everything out.Think their should be a beginners guide to Windows 8 :lol:

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When I wrote that you'll win the African CL in no time I didn't realize you were already in it... it may come even earlier then? :D Though to be fair on paper that is an extremely tough group all 3 of your opponents are famous top African sides.

Congrats on the South African Cup.

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noikee - Thanks mate :D Couldn't expect you to know I was already in it when I didn't even know I was in it :lol: It's a awful group,Al-Ahly are the holders and ES Tunis won it the season before!Not too bothered about Kaizer Chiefs as I know that I can beat them.

Acidburn - Cheers fella :D Think my priority for next season is getting a top 2 spot as that will guarantee us a spot in the African CL as spots only go to the top two teams in the league.I will try my best in this years African CL but whatever happens,it's been a good run.

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - Pre-Season - 2024/25

Club Information - Facilities - Boardroom Overview - Expectations - Finances

Pre-Season Transfers

The seven players who left were not playing anyway when I took over,they were not good enough for the team and the right decision was to let them go.We bought in the two players who would increase the quality of the team.Sali is a future international player whereas Monareng comes to us with two caps for South Africa so that is a massive signing for us and makes left back one of our strongest positions.

Fixtures

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The friendlies turned out to be meaningless as we has two important fixtures in the Champions League,we went to the ground of the holders Al-Ahly and actually won 2-1 which was an amazing result.We then faced the number one ranked team in Africa ES Tunis,this game will be one to remember for the neutrals as a late Sithole goal clinched us a famous 5-4 victory to top Group A.Bring on Kaizer Chiefs as Ateba will be back by then after missing the previous fixtures due to the Olympics.

The Team

Tactics - Team Report

Key Players

Thabo Monareng - DL

Pre-Season signing coming in from Thanda Royal Zulu on a free transfer.I'm going to be honest,I feel he only agreed to sign for us due to my World Class rep as I feel he is destined for great things in a bigger league but for now he is with us.He will be the starting DL for us and is one of two South African Internationals we now have at the club with the other being Brian Dlamini.Monareng has made an impressive start in the two Champions League games and can only get better as the season progresses.

Brian Dlamini - DM,MC

The home grown star of FS Stars and now a fully fledged South African international which is nothing less than he deserves.For some unknown reason,he was rarely used despite being able to play MC as well before I took over.Dlamini didn't get a break with me,if he was fit then he played.He is a brilliant DM and amazing to think that he is only 19 years old and has years left in him playing football.Definitely my first choice DM and is normally one of the first two names on the team sheet.Hopefully he can carry over his impressive form from last season as that will be a massive assist with me chasing trophies here,there and everywhere!

Elvis Tetteh - MC

Was a brilliant free signing from the famed Right to Dream Academy,made quite the impact with his consistent performances which saw him average at 7.62 from 27 appearances in which he provided 9 assists and scored 6 goals to help the teams cause.He has even been called up to the full Ghana squad but hasn't received a cap yet but I do believe that it will be a matter of time before he receives his first cap.I am expecting more of the same from him in the up coming season as I'm going all out.

Many Ateba - ST

Lived up to his name and scored many goals last season,45 goals to be precise and that came in 22 games so I am quite excited to see what he does this season as it could be something special,he could become the Cameroonian Shaun O'Halloran!He didn't really take part in pre-season due to the Olympics in which Cameroon got to the quarter finals thanks to Italy's incompetence and failing to knock then out of the group stage.I will need him at his best to help us succeed this season.Only a matter of time before he gets a full cap by Cameroon.

Manager's Thoughts

Didn't really do as much as I would have liked team wise as I wanted to strengthen the defence more than what I actually did so I have had to draft in a couple of my players from the u19's who should be amazing at this level in the future but they are good for backup for now.Attacking wise,I haven't really got a problem as you could tell by the pre-season fixtures and early champions league fixtures as I didn't even need Ateba!I'm taking everything seriously as I do generally believe we can go all the way in the Champions League,I am content with a top two spot in the league this season as this will ensure we qualify for the Champions League.Although from 2025,we will be in the confederation cup due to a combination of winning the FA Cup and a poor finish in the league last season!

I actually do love this board,I have been here less than a season and they are upgrading the training and youth facilities so that should help the overall setup at the club after I leave.I have contract till 2027 and I feel 2026 is the earliest I would leave anyway due to wanting to get back into the Champions League in which we should be a main competitor for the Continental title in the future.Time to take over South Africa!

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Decent start in the CL there, if you can get the 2 wins over Kaizer Chiefs you can take the rest of the group a bit easy. In my save there's been some great talent coming from South Africa, i've actually got a decent striker from there myself (not on Ateba's level yet but i'm happy with almost a goal a game average), signed 2 for Videoton (though I left before I got to see them play) and am after another one now. Your time there and the players i've seen so far have inspired me to have a bash there at some point before FM14 :cool:

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Cheers fella :D We have the home tie to do first against Kaizer Chiefs but as you said,2 wins will make it a bit easy.

South African talents are normally snapped up by Ajax on mine before moving on.Some of the players for massive clubs like Man City,Real Madrid,Juventus and Man Utd.There are a few players at average clubs like Spartak Moscow,Newcastle and Fulham while the rest play for lower standard clubs like the South African teams and Liverpool :lol: It would be worth seeing a club with maximum facilities to see what talent can come through a academy.

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We can add another 3 points to the total as we beat Kaizer Chiefs 4-2 so we have a 6 point gap with 3 games left!I hope they do too but the training facilities are actually taking till October 2025 so got over a year till they are done yet!

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noikeee - Thanks mate :D We made it 6 out of 6 wins so we won the group.The surprising thing is that it was Kaizer Chiefs who came 2nd and qualify along side us :eek:

iSmiff - Europe and Americas have a lot more appeal and some are entertaining.Africa's are kind of like lower league's of European leagues as a few quality players can really make a difference.There is a lot of competitions but they seem to come earlier in the season with exception to the FA Cup.

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Free State Stars - South African Premiership - August and September - 2024

Fixtures

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League Table

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Manager's Thoughts

Not the best start in the league as we sit 4 points behind Orlando Pirates but we do have a game in hand in which we need to get something from it to keep the pressure up.We've played well for the most part in the MTN8 competition although I nearly messed it up in the second leg as Orlando Pirates came dangerously close to knocking us out of the competition after it had looked like we were going through comfortably.Our best displays have definitely come in the Champions League as we won our remaining games which meant we topped the group with a perfect winning record.Kaizer Chiefs surprisingly came 2nd which meant the holders Al-Ahly and the number one African team Es Tunis were both knocked out of the competition.

The next couple of months sees us kick off against Jomo Cosmos in the MTN8 final in which I want a better performance than our semi-final 2nd leg farce.The Telkom knockout kicks off as we face Martizburg Utd in which we have already beat them once this season and scored five goals in the process so I am expecting to make progress.We face TP Mazembe in the Champions League semi-final which is the two most important games we will have this season.I know we can progress but we need to play to our absolute best to ensure we can progress.We really need to kick it up a notch in the league as our performances have been lackluster,if we are too challenge then can't do anything stupid which has happened in previous games.

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