In an exclusive interview with Goal, the Lions of the North manager spoke of the experienced striker’s release from the club
After parting ways with former Orlando Pirates striker Tendai Ndoro, Highlands Park coach Owen Da Gama has explained he is not involved in contract talks at the club whilst praising the veteran striker for his contribution.
The Zimbabwe international was released by the Lions of the North this week and ‘ODG’ says they’ve lost an experienced campaigner, but it’s not a major blow as they still have veteran midfielders in Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Musa Nyatama in their ranks.
Moreover, Da Gama is confident the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the South African government will find a perfect plan to resume the 2019/20 season, saying the safety of the players comes first.
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“I am not involved in a lot of contract discussions in the club. I am not able to discuss Ndoro’s contractual issues and terminations,” Da Gama told Goal.
“From a technical point of view, Ndoro helped the team because he’s a very good player but in the last 15 games or so, he was not part of the team for various reasons which I don’t want to go into.
“I think he’s very experienced but sometimes things don’t work out and you move on. Sometimes things do work and sometimes they don’t.
“You’re right he was good at guiding the youngsters but we have experienced players. We’ve got Letsholonyane, we’ve got [Bevan] Fransman and now we have Musa.
“I think there’s a lot of experience in the team but as I say, I’m not involved in contractual talks and I would never understand what happened between Ndoro and the club.
“Whether there were clauses in his contract, I don’t know. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to part ways and move on. It happens to coaches and it happens to players.”
On their return to action as the matches are suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, the former Bafana Bafana coach heaped praise on their trainer Simone Conley, saying she has been smart and that nobody can blame the league’s governing body.
“We’ve also been trying to give the players some rest and because we started exactly on the 12th of June and it’s almost a year now,” he added.
“So, our season has been very long, and in saying that, our fitness trainer [Conley] has been very smart on the players.
“It’s not about how hard you work during this time but how smart you work. I think she’s been very smart and understands the players. Hopefully, we’ve got it right.
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“This is something nobody planned for and it’s the first time this happened in football. As far as I know, this has never happened in my football career. It’ very difficult to say what is the right thing to say.
“We don’t even know when we are going to start and if they say we are starting in two or three weeks’ time, it’s a challenge in terms of planning.
“There’s no time frame and you can’t blame the PSL. This whole thing depends on the government because, at the end of the day, safety comes first.”
