There have not been as many draws in the Betway Premiership as last season.
However, this season, there has been a plethora of 1-0 winning scorelines, even though matches may have been one-sided. The dominant teams have seldom managed more than one score, and goals have started to dry up.
However, the highlight of the season so far was that South Africa's most loved team, Kaizer Chiefs, finally managed a clean sheet and is one of the five takeaways from the weekend's domestic footy.
1 Goals are drying up, time to call in striker coaches
Many leading Betway Premiership teams dominate matches which are often one-sided. Although these teams are victorious, they end up with 1-0 winning margins. The time has come for clubs to consider hiring striker coaches just like they employ goalkeeper coaches. Early last year, Orlando Pirates hired Englishman Scott Chickelday, a striker coach. He had a reputation in England for elevating strikers' games to the next level. The Pirates players enjoyed working with him but after a month, he quit the job. There has always been talk of him returning to Pirates, but it has yet to materialise. It would seem that head coaches are threatened by having a striker coach on board.
2 Finally, 10 matches later, Chiefs have a clean sheet
Kaizer Chiefs have finally returned a clean sheet for the 2023-2024 Premiership season after their 1-0 win over Chippa United. Overall, the team’s defence has been leaky and with 14 in the goals-against column, Chiefs are in the Premiership's top four clubs of most goals conceded. Goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma played his part in the clean sheet against Chippa with two excellent saves and on another occasion, the woodwork came to Chiefs' rescue. Despite signing off the year with a win, coach Nasreddine Nabi is far from happy with the performances. Expect him to make some buys during the January transfer window which opens on Wednesday.
3 Stellenbosch left-back Basadien on the radar of top clubs
Stellenbosch FC have struck it rich during several previous transfer windows as leading clubs have snapped up their best players. They have successfully warded attempts to purchase Fawaaz Basadien, who has caught the eye with consistent top-class performances. Pirates are looking to reinforce their left-back berth after inconsistent performances from Deon Hotto, Innocent Maela and Paseka Mako. Basadien has a penchant for joining the attack when the opportunity looms and his overall playing style will allow him to be comfortable in the Pirates team. Chiefs came close to signing Basadien earlier this year.
4 Brave Magesi battling the odds, but relegation spectre looms large
Embattled Magesi FC surprised friend and foe alike after defeating the star-studded Sundowns in the Carling Knockout final. It will rank as one of the biggest upsets in PSL history considering Magesi was far and away the weakest team at the time in the Premiership. Over the weekend, Magesi again produced a gallant performance against the in-form Pirates, who were the eventual 1-0 winners. This was a wonderful effort from Magesi, especially considering media reports saying their players were devastated because they received a shocking bonus after the club's windfall; Carling Knockout final win paid R6,600 000 plus a R250,000 participation fee.
5 Chippa United's coaching stability paying dividends
After 11 games this season, Chippa have lost five matches, but their coach Kwanele Kopo is still at the helm. Normally, Chippa's owner Siviwe Mpengesi wields the axe when his team loses, but in fairness to him, the team suffered back-to-back Premiership defeats for the first time this season after going down 1-0 to Chiefs on Sunday in Durban. Although Chiefs dominated, Chippa had chances to win the match. Kopo was far from happy afterwards because of his team's display, he summed up: "It's the worst I've seen of us this entire season." If that is true, Chippa will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season.