WeeklySA_AdminBLANKS: Lanky midfielder fresh from Portugal still to shine in Swallows FC colours
By Ali Mphaki
Soweto-born Lehlogonolo Matlou had his stint in Portugal last season brought to a screeching halt when he was tackled from behind suffering racial abuse after being called a “monkey”.
Those of us of a darker hue will attest there is nothing anecdotal about being racially abused and no doubt the 1.8-metre attacking midfielder should be relieved that he is back home and featuring for a top flight team in Swallows FC.
Ahead of his signing for The Birds, coach Brendon Truter was all praise and hype for Matlou, whom he described as going to add the much expected vroom in the Swallows FC ageing but experience midfield ensemble.
The former SA U20 international, Bidvest Wits Reserves and Cape Umoya United, Cape Town All Stars, and SA U20 international has so far featured – without fail – in all of Swallows FC league and cup games this season.
Eight games in all. But looking at Matlou’s return on investment, the emperor has no clothes! Always in the starting line-up, and seldom, if ever substituted.
Despite all the trust from the Swallows technical team, Matlou is still to score let alone do an assist.
No doubt this has put Truter’s tactical acumen, selections, reluctance to make big decisions and indulgence of underperforming players into question by players as well as frustrated fans as Swallows’ second season in top flight unravels.
The question on every Swallows fan is whether Matlou is a reasonably-sized fish still to become a reasonably big fish in a big pond, having so far failed to deliver the desired results?
Why players like the dreadlocked Given Thibedi, Kamohelo Mahlatsi, Grant Magerman have been used so sparingly when the form of so many regulars has been so poor, with concerns raised about the tendency to keep repeating the same mistakes ala defender Sipho Sibiya and the “favouritism” shown to some like Ruzaigh Gamildien.
Several sources have pointed out that, in addition to the lack of cohesion defensively, there is a glaring disconnect between the team’s glittering array of attacking players best reflected in their work out of possession.
Could this be some of the reasons why Truter earned himself a two or three weeks’ suspension from the club? We may be living in days of supposed transparency, but even with a top ANC official like Panyanza Lesufi in the Swallows hierarchy, surprisingly we will never know. Quoted in local media about Matlou, coach Truter said:“Technically, he is very good, and the boy is not scared to work hard, the boy is not scared to get stuck in as well.”
“I would say he is one of the complete midfielders in the league, still young, he is one for the future. hence the reason he is starting all the games,” concluded Truter. But as Truter says, the 23- year-old Matlou still has age on his side.
It is up to him to silence the hard to please Swallows fans or risk his career not going quite in the direction as anticipated or worse still go swim in a reasonably-sized pond. He has a chance to redeem himself when Swallows FC meet Golden Arrows on Tuesday at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont.
Of significance is that Matlou must thank his lucky stars that fans are still barred from attending matches – otherwise he risks more abuse than the racial slurs he endured in Portugal.
