Richards Bay have gone eight months long without winning a match, and that has created a mental block to the players, club coach Kaitano Tembo admitted.
Bay’s draw against AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday has seen their winless streak stretch to 18 matches in all competitions, since beating Marumo Gallants in January away last season.
In those 18 matches, Bay has lost 13 and drawn five, which is a sign of concern for the club and Tembo, who was brought in to change the fortunes at the beginning of the season.
That win in January was the only they had to show in the second half of last season, having won seven in the first round of 2022/23, which led to them to sitting second on the log, heading to the FIFA World Cup break.
“Obviously, if you go for that long and not win the game, something happens mentally,” admitted Tembo when asked by iDiski Times.
“But at the same time it is our responsibility now to try and take the club out of that, motivate the players, work on them mentally. So Saturday’s performance was a huge start.
“You can see the players are growing in confidence and I was quite happy with the opportunity that I gave to Nkululeko Miya, who was playing for ABC Motsepe League side Umsinga.
“We have to be brave to throw him there, as well Thabani Mthembu and with a little bit of luck, he could have maybe got us a goal. I have no doubt that we will be able to come out of this.”
While Bay has gone this long to have failed to win a match, Tembo said to be getting fired is the least of his concerns.
“I can’t be worried about getting fired,” he explained.
“I am a coach and at the end of the day one day I will be fired so I shouldn’t worry about that. What I should worry about is for me to give my all to the club to show my work, to show what I can do – I think that is very important to me.
“Because in football you can be fired, even if you are on top of the log, so it is normal, it happens. For me it [getting fired] is not the main issue, I want to just try and make a difference to the club.
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“If they feel that I’m doing a good job – that is important to me.”
Bay, who are third from bottom with one point from three matches, next host Mamelodi Sundowns at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday (17:00).
