Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker hopes to have six additional players registered in time for Sunday’s opening Betway Premiership clash against Kaizer Chiefs, having started the season without them in beating AmaZulu 3-2 in their MTN8 quarterfinal on Sunday.
Two new foreign signings— Turan Mantov from Azerbaijan and the Belgian defender Henri Stanic, who was last playing in Liechtenstein— are still awaiting work permits from the Department of Home Affairs, while the club is also sorting out paperwork for Ibrahim Jabaar, their Nigerian midfielder.
Barker said he was hopeful the permits would be secured before Sunday’s league match at the Cape Town Stadium.
There was also a hitch in registering striker Muzomuhle Khanyi, who was the top scorer in the Motsepe Foundation Championship last season and has been bought from Hungry Lions, while Thapelo Mokobodi from Marumo Gallants and Mthetheleli Mthiyane from Milford only arrived at the club late last week.
“With Muso it was a bit of a TMS (Transfer Management System) problem that we encountered with Hungry Lions, but I'm trusting and hoping that we can get everybody registered and then I do believe that we'll then have a really balanced squad all around the field, just on some of the sightings and training sessions I've seen,”
Stellenbosch got two hours of competitive football in their legs on Sunday as they battled AmaZulu in cup action, with the tie only decided after extra time.
“I think you saw the players cramping because of playing 120 minutes in their first game of the season. But yeah, tough game. And I think the pitch made it a little bit difficult; the balls sort of bounced a lot.
"You needed to have a touch, and that wasn't really conducive to the way we want to play, but if you want to win trophies and be in semifinals, then you've just got to find a way to win a game.
“And I think we found a way to win this match from a tactical level. I thought we started the game really well with a lot of really good possession, but it was a little bit frustrating in terms of the type of goals we conceded, and then it was just a matter of really digging deep.
“We always felt that we have a really good ability from the bench to either change a game or enhance a game with our subs,” Barker added.
“There are always a lot of things that you’re never really 100 per cent sure of when you play the first game of the season, like where you are at and what you need to do, so it was good for us to get a competitive game like we did (against AmaZulu) to just see where we are, and then obviously next week a big league match coming up.
“There are a couple of things to work on, but, once again, we're in a semifinal and we have shown that consistency as a team to be reaching many semifinals over the last couple of years.
“Hopefully we can again get ourselves into a final and hopefully go one step further than last season,” added Barker.