Rolers scare Lovers

Green Lovers’ headcoach Othusitse Kootselwe is not a man to minces his words. Unlike other rookie teams that never survive the first season in the premier league, Kootselwe is adamant that Lovers will remain in the beMOBILE Premiership league for years to come.

The coach said this on the backdrop of receiving a one-sided thorough hiding from league front runners Township Rollers over the weekend. After the heavy 6-1 loss at the hands of Rollers, Lovers will face another stiff test when they take on the might of BDF XI in their last game of the this season’s first round of the league.

Despite being steam rolled by Popa Popa, Kootselwe said he was generally pleased with his team’s performance for their first season in the premier league. Lovers are currently at position 12 out of 16 teams, with a total of 15 points.

The Serowe outfit managed to secure five victories and lose nine games in the first round. “There is nothing much I will change about the team. We are hammering some of these teams, we will make it through, many people did not think we will be here. We are not going to relegate,” Kootselwe said after the heavy loss to Rollers.

It was a case of hero-worshipping on the day, with most of the Lovers’ players meeting their favourite team for the first time. Kootselwe revealed: “My players were trembling with fear throughout the game, especially as most of them grew up supporting the multiple champions.

They only came on song in the second half.” He added that he was not going to make any drastic changes to his squad during the January transfer window.The coach did not hold back on recent issues surrounding his star player and league run away success Moatlhodi Ralesotla over after talk that the 24-year-old striker and current top goal scorer allegedly signed with Gaborone United.

“There is a lot of talk around him, that’s why he did not perform well against Rollers. My opinion is that the player should stay with us for the rest of the season because we know him better. If he is lured with money and joins another team in the second round, he will have to make adjustments at the new team,” he said.

However, Kootselwe conceded that Lovers did not have the financial muscle to keep the free scoring-player, adding that they could not stop him if he wanted to go somewhere else.