Royal AM coach Abram Nteo says it was beyond his pay grade when the club decided to sell striker Andre De Jong, despite it being an area where they are short at the moment.
De Jong was signed by Stellenbosch FC last week, after he saw little game-time in the KwaZulu-Natal club.
That was despite De Jong starting this season on fire, scoring three goals in the opening three matches to lead the scoring charts and also the KZN club going on top.
One of those goals was against Stellies, though they lost 3-1 on that occasion with the New Zealand striker netting what was a consolation goal in August.
That was the last time he found the back of the net for Royal AM, having joined them at the beginning of the season after he was released by AmaZulu at the end of last term.
With De Jong gone, Royal AM have Motebang Sera who has been carrying them off late, while Ruzaigh Gamildien is in and out of the side, sitting in the stands in the 1-1 draw with Chippa United on Saturday.
Samir Nurkovic was let go without kicking a ball and Sedwyn George is also another who is in and out of the side, just like Mxolisi Macuphu, leaving Nteo mum when ask why De Jong was let go.
“You know that one [about De Jong], I don’t want to talk about, please,” said Nteo, who looked infuriated by the club’s decision to let him go.
“It was management [who decided to let him go]. He’s a good player and it was something with management and him, I don’t want to talk about it.”
When pressed if it was beyond his control to lose him, Nteo said with certainty it was.
“Yes, it was beyond my control,” he added.
Royal AM took the lead against Chippa side in the first half through Sera, with the Lesotho international netting his fourth goal this season. But in the second half, Royal AM left a lot of gaps open for Morgan Mammila’s side to take advantage of. On loan from Mamelodi Sundowns striker Etiosa Ighodaro equalised with a first time hit to see both sides share the spoils.
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“Our guys dropped a little bit,” admitted Nteo, who has just won one game in four since he took sole charge of the club.
“We defended too deep and we allowed them to have the ball more and when the team has the ball more, it is easy for them to hurt you.
“That led to us conceding a goal and towards the end we tried to get one goal to win but it wasn’t the case. Second half was just bad.”
To make matters worse, Royal AM’s average age is 28.8 years, which is more than any other side in the league.
However, they have signed right-back Mthokozisi Dube and Ghanaian winger Godfred Nyarko, with the latter making his debut in the Chippa.
