TS Galaxy’s star centre-back Macbeth Mahlangu is going to have to find his way back into the side’s starting line-up after being dropped by new coach Bernard Parker.
The 24-year-old was ever-present along with centre-back partner Pogiso Sanoka in the 2022-23 season for Galaxy, making a name for himself that saw him predicted as a future Bafana Bafana player and also linked with the top clubs in Gauteng.
But over the last two seasons, he had had to battle with injury, and now form is a concern for Parker, who left him on the bench at the weekend when Galaxy kicked off their new Betway Premiership campaign with a 2-2 draw away against Siwelele in Bloemfontein.
“Macbeth has been with the club forever, and at one stage, he showed a lot of potential two seasons ago, when he played 30 matches consistently.
“But last season, when we went through a little bit of a slump, there was a little bit of a leak in the defence with him there together with the Brazilian Igor.
“So when I had to take over,” said Parker of his appointment in April as caretaker coach in place of Adnan Beganovic, “I had to make sure that I closed the leak and reinforced the defence, and the players that I brought in reinforced the defence and kept clean sheets, and saved the team from relegation.
“Plus that great victory we had against (Mamelodi) Sundowns (3-2 on 12 May last season) showed that we found stability at the back.
“Mahlangu has just now had to fall back into the pecking order, in the queue. He's still with us. He's still a top player. He's got competition right now, so it's just for him to fight for his spot back,” Parker advised.
Galaxy are next in action on Tuesday when they host Sundowns at Mbombela Stadium and then have another home game on Sunday, 16 August against Lamontville Golden Arrows at KwaMhlanga.