Sundowns must keep Habas

After a perfect start to their current league campaign, Mamelodi Sundowns have had to endure a bad loss of form lately and the supporters are calling for coach Antonio Lopez Habas to be fired.

The Brazillians started this season like a house on fire and were at one stage seven points clear at the top of the log table. Towards December they started to suffer a dip of form and the wheels came off. The disappointing results included a humiliating defeat to AmaZulu. Sundowns have now been replaced by Orlando Pirates and it will be hard for them to regain their top spot because of the good form being shown by Pirates and Chiefs.

It is not surprising than that the Sundowns supporters are calling for the coach to be sacked, that has become a norm in South African football. Every time poor results start creeping in - it is always the coach whose head must roll. This is a country where millions of football fans are coaches in their own right.

Habas has not done himself any good ever since he took over the coaching reigns from Stoichkov. He changes his starting line up every game and he usually plays some players out of position, which is a cardinal sin in South African football. Somehow it looks like he is failing to handle all the egos involved at Sundowns and he is trying to satisfy each and everyone of them-which is quiet impossible. Many supporters believe that the above reasons are contributing to the poor results. And they might be right, it's hard to build cohesion in the team when the line up is changed with every game.

However, Sundowns will just have to be patient with the Spaniard and let him do his job until the end of the season. After all the team is still in contention for the league title and that means Habas is still on course to achieve his mandate which is to win the league.

What the supporters should understand is that it is impossible for any team to be on top form throughout the season. what is happening at Sundowns at the moment is purely a loss of form and they will soon be back to their winning ways. Firing the coach now will be their downfall and they will lose any chance they have of league glory this season.

What the supporters are doing now will unsettle the team and the results will become worse. They must just let Habas do his job and judge him at the end of the season.

By Siphiwe Hlongwane