Well, the open window is the point in discussion at the moment, how funny we get carried away by the events at the Galacticos. There is simply one reason why all this is happening during this open window. Three or four years ago a lot of players signed contracts which would end this year. After that the transfer market was very limited.
South African teams, unlike their European counterparts and Mmakau Sundowns (Oh sorry, Mamelodi) is that they are not willing to buy players from other teams. That is why the only team that made the transferee market was Mmakau/Mamelodi Sundowns. The boss had to make a statement to all of us about his financial status.
Most player contract comes to the end at the end of this season. Now all the teams can put forward an offer to any player. So what went wrong at Sundowns?
This was pure lack of good managerial skills. They should have anticipated this if they really looked at their player contracts. They would have noticed that the Player contracts at Sundowns, all come to an end at almost the same time. When that happens, you as a team are not the only one talking to your own player. More so with agents who will be looking to make a kill by then.
But again they never thought there is any team that can compete for a player with them. Now how on earth do they underestimate teams like Platinum Stars, who are to me are the wealthiest team in the country? So there is the simplest lesson to all this.
As a team, big or small, players are the engine. You make a spreadsheet of all your players and the end date of their contracts. If there is a situation where most contracts end on the same year, well start working on it.
Sit your players down and try to extend their contracts as soon as possible. Negotiate in time. Know who is with the team and who is not. There is nothing like players today are going for short contracts. I know a lot of Quality players, abroad and locally, who have very long term contracts.
Baile (Diskioff manager)
baile.diskioff@gmail.com
