Santos battling for survival

ONCE the pride of Tsumeb and former CAF Champions League contestants, Chief Santos have slowly slipped down the domestic football ladder, have won no major cup since 2001 and are now battling to avoid the relegation chop before the season ends in May.

The club is rock-bottom on the MTC Namibia Premier League and is trying to cope with undisciplined players and insufficient finances for player allowances, while the management is hard at work to keep one of the country’s heavyweight sides intact. These revelations were made by club president Freddy Guiseb in an interview with The Namibian Sport yesterday.Santos have only won one of their 11 league matches and have pulled two draws, while they were downed eight times, even by premiership rookies SKW, during the first round.Guiseb said the losses were mainly due to the new and rather young players that have joined the team this season.”These players are still trying to establish themselves in the premiership as most of them came from the first divisions,” he said.On the other hand, at least half of this season’s side consists of experienced players such as defenders Nelson Geingob and Steven Tjeenao, midfielders Brian Gurirab and strikers Warren Neidel and Ricardo Witbeen.Other experienced players that are currently not in the fold are strikers Gerros Witbeen and Berlin Auchumeb, as well as seasoned goalkeeper Marcellus Witbeen.Some of the new players who have been drafted into the yellow-and-green outfit are Uasora Kahuure, who came in from relegated My Dae Chiefs, Robertino Hobexab from Eastern Chiefs and Rasta Somseb from Oshakati City.Harold Oxurub and Avelinus Seibeb joined the team from lower-division side Young Rangers.Guiseb admitted that at times players were undisciplined and skipped training on certain days, while others faked injuries.”We are addressing these problems and we held meetings to iron out some of these difficulties as we are now aiming to be the first team to win the CAF Champions League in Southern Africa by 2010,” he said.He said it was the team’s long-term vision to win the Champions League, but they are now working on getting themselves out of the relegation zone.According to Guiseb, the club’s finances are not looking promising, although the team is supported by its long-standing sponsors, Marathon Sugar, each season.He said players would ideally be paid allowances, but at this stage they are only given bonuses, and only in some cases.”This is also another factor that affects the morale of the players, but we are happy that they have so far not been too demanding and have tried their best on the field despite the losses,” he said.Santos was established in 1963 and they are affectionately known as the ‘Copper Town Boys’ because Tsumeb is a mining town.The side has won the domestic premiership twice, first during the 1992/1993 season and again during the 2002/2003 season.Guiseb said although it will be impossible to gun for the league title this year, they are aiming to do a better job next season as there are only 11 matches remaining before the season comes to an end.The team, which won the prestigious Namibia Football Association (NFA) Cup on four separate occasions, ended in 10th position last season out of a league of 16.Their most recent cup win was in 2001 when they picked up the MTC Cup.According to Guiseb, Santos will try to raise funds to make the club more financially stable, an issue that will be discussed at a consultative meeting this weekend.He said the meeting would map out the way forward for the club and would also look at strengthening the technical staff in an effort to get better results.”We would like to hear the views of the former players at the consultative meeting because the current situation in which we find ourselves is desperate and we need to get out of it soon,” he said.At this stage, former player Pule Subeb is the stand-in coach, while another former hot-shot and favourite player, Gerros Witbeen, is the assistant.Max Johnson, also a former national team coach, will remain the head coach, but his involvement will be limited as he is busy with the training of coaches in the region.These revelations were made by club president Freddy Guiseb in an interview with The Namibian Sport yesterday.Santos have only won one of their 11 league matches and have pulled two draws, while they were downed eight times, even by premiership rookies SKW, during the first round.Guiseb said the losses were mainly due to the new and rather young players that have joined the team this season.”These players are still trying to establish themselves in the premiership as most of them came from the first divisions,” he said.On the other hand, at least half of this season’s side consists of experienced players such as defenders Nelson Geingob and Steven Tjeenao, midfielders Brian Gurirab and strikers Warren Neidel and Ricardo Witbeen.Other experienced players that are currently not in the fold are strikers Gerros Witbeen and Berlin Auchumeb, as well as seasoned goalkeeper Marcellus Witbeen.Some of the new players who have been drafted into the yellow-and-green outfit are Uasora Kahuure, who came in from relegated My Dae Chiefs, Robertino Hobexab from Eastern Chiefs and Rasta Somseb from Oshakati City.Harold Oxurub and Avelinus Seibeb joined the team from lower-division side Young Rangers.Guiseb admitted that at times players were undisciplined and skipped training on certain days, while others faked injuries.”We are addressing these problems and we held meetings to iron out some of these difficulties as we are now aiming to be the first team to win the CAF Champions League in Southern Africa by 2010,” he said.He said it was the team’s long-term vision to win the Champions League, but they are now working on getting themselves out of the relegation zone.According to Guiseb, the club’s finances are not looking promising, although the team is supported by its long-standing sponsors, Marathon Sugar, each season.He said players would ideally be paid allowances, but at this stage they are only given bonuses, and only in some cases.”This is also another factor that affects the morale of the players, but we are happy that they have so far not been too demanding and have tried their best on the field despite the losses,” he said.Santos was established in 1963 and they are affectionately known as the ‘Copper Town Boys’ because Tsumeb is a mining town.The side has won the domestic premiership twice, first during the 1992/1993 season and again during the 2002/2003 season.Guiseb said although it will be impossible to gun for the league title this year, they are aiming to do a better job next season as there are only 11 matches remaining before the season comes to an end.The team, which won the prestigious Namibia Football Association (NFA) Cup on four separate occasions, ended in 10th position last season out of a league of 16.Their most recent cup win was in 2001 when they picked up the MTC Cup.According to Guiseb, Santos will try to raise funds to make the club more financially stable, an issue that will be discussed at a consultative meeting this weekend.He said the meeting would map out the way forward for the club and would also look at strengthening the technical staff in an effort to get better results.”We would like to hear the views of the former players at the consultative meeting because the current situation in which we find ourselves is desperate and we need to get out of it soon,” he said.At this stage, former player Pule Subeb is the stand-in coach, while another former hot-shot and favourite player, Gerros Witbeen, is the assistant.Max Johnson, also a former national team coach, will remain the head coach, but his involvement will be limited as he is busy with the training of coaches in the region.