Richards Bay FC head coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi has pointed out why the club has been struggling since the second round of last season.
Promoted to the top-flight after winning the 2021/22 Motsepe Foundation Championship, the Natal Rich Boyz enjoyed a dream start in the DStv Premiership. They spent most of the first round in second place behind Mamelodi Sundowns.
However, their form dipped significantly, and they finished the campaign in 13th position.
Vilakazi believes the passing of teammate Siphamandla Mtolo during training had a profound psychological impact on the players. Mtolo tragically collapsed and died on the pitch.
The former club’s captain collapsed and died on the training pitch towards the end of training.
The coach suggests that having a psychologist on board to help the team cope with this trauma might have made a difference.
VUSI VILAKAZI SAYS PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUE CAN’T BE FIXED OVERNIGHT
“What I noticed when I arrived in the team was that the problem was psychologically,” said Vilakazi.
“There’s too many things that happened to this team which we are not noticing as media and also football lovers.
“I think for the fact that they lost a teammate on the field, I think it affected them so much. That’s why they’ve been struggling for too long because the problem was psychologically.
“I remember the first game when I was in charge, winning against SuperSport [United], the hyper, the players were so motivated. So, that was something that was missing.
“But as I’ve said that other things can’t be rectified overnight, so you still need to make sure that you try and motivate them psychologically.
“I think one person asked me last time that maybe psychologist would have done [something] for a club had we organised early in terms of dealing with that aspect.”
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