Magesi coach Owen da Gama has admitted that player confidence was severely damaged when he took over the team.
This stems from Magesi’s winless streak since defeating Mamelodi Sundowns to lift the Carling Knockout trophy in Bloemfontein in November.
That slump led to coach Clinton Larsen’s departure in December, with da Gama taking over.
However, da Gama has struggled to turn things around. Since the Sundowns victory, the club has lost eight of its 10 matches in all competitions.
“When I arrived here, I mean, it was really at all times low,” da Gama responded when he was asked by Sportswire after they played to a goalless draw with Richards Bay at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday.
“I don’t know if its anticlimax after winning the Carling Cup and everything have just gone down. I also think that affects players a lot.
“Because some of them think they have arrived. They beat Orlando Pirates (round of 16), beat Sundowns and now they think they have arrived and that was more like a pre-season tournament, to be honest with you.
“They were games that they won that they were not supposed to win. And they were games that now that we should have won and we didn’t win.
“So, I just feel that the lack of experience in being able to handle the cup final excitement has been problematic.
“I remember with Silver Stars, our first season we went to the final against Chiefs and after that we lost six matches without a win.
“The mentality is not right; the mentality is not very strong and it is something that we have been working a lot.
“We have been watching videos, we have been talking, making them express themselves, tell us why this and why that.
“It is slowly coming together, but it is a process. But we are happy with the progress we have made.”
Magesi, promoted last season, sit second from bottom in the Betway Premiership table with eight points from 14 matches, level with Royal AM, who have three games in hand. Royal AM’s games were recently suspended by the PSL due to financial issues. Both teams are two points behind 14th-placed Richards Bay, who have played one more game than Magesi and four more than Royal AM.
Adding to Magesi’s woes, new striker Thabang Sibanyoni suffered an injury on the eve of the Richards Bay match, despite training well all week, according to da Gama.
Sibanyoni was released by Bay earlier this season after failing to impress and amid reports of off-field issues.
“Sibanyoni was supposed to start, he trained the whole week, we prepared him and unfortunately, he pulled, just before the warm up last night (on Friday), he felt it something and we couldn’t risk him,” explained Da Gama.
“They were firing on all cylinders and what would have been a combination between him and Wonderboy Makhubu. Unfortunately, that derailed our plans a little bit because we wanted to score and I think that is reason why we signed him.”