Beggars can't be choosers!

Chippa United have been relegated from the NFD League, and the last drop spot turns into a race between Bloem Celtic and FCAK with one game to play.

FCAK currently have their nose ahead with a two point lead on Bloem Celtic, but they meet us at home.

Bloem Celtic, on the other hand, play away to....Chippa United!

At the other end of the table, the last playoff place is still open, with Carara Kicks and Batau FC level on points.

The SA FA Cup Semi Final draw has been made and it pits Dynamos away to United FC and Ajax to host FCUK.

The draw has not been kind to us with all these away fixtures.

In the last game of the National First Division Season, it was important to us to keep a clean sheet in front of a record home crowd of 14,247.

We succeeded in keeping the clean sheet, recording an excellent 3-0 win against FCAK. Relying on other results to go their way to stay in the NFD, FCAK would have been disappointed with Bloem Celtics 0-5 demolition job on Chippa, to secure 13th place, and with it, seal FCAK's fate.

Batau Killers FC also took home three points against FC Cape Town to bring them into the playoffs.

Indicative of how tight funds are in South Africa, we received 10.54K for our top placed finish in the NFD.

It's one of those posts where we have good news, bad news and worse news.

The good news is that the Board have agreed that we need to own our own stadium, so that will be taken care of prior to the start of the new season.

The bad news is I have no idea how that is going to impact our finances, but it had to be done.

Worse news is, I can't find a club to buy a friendly with, and promising young striker Mngadi has gone and done himself a mischief and will be out of commission for anywhere between six weeks and two months. I'm glad it coincides largely with the offseason!

South Africa have named their 30 provisional squad for the forthcoming World Cup. I note a decided lack of players whom ply their trade in the Republic!

We are through to another final, where we meet Ajax CT. All our goals were scored in a twenty min burst at the start of the match, which then meant United were playing catch up ball.

Golden Arrows have bought Doc Matsimbi for GBP8,750 after his loan with them this season, and Platinum Stars have also paid 21K for Bongani Zungu.

Saves me having to try and sell them when they got back, so all in all, a fantastic result for all concerned.

Now if only I could get a similar deal for Fatso Mashego, I'd be an awful lot happier!

And I went and jinxed it, didn't I? Both Matsimbi and Zungu have rejected contracts from their respective loan clubs as "they are not impressed with the clubs league standing."

I don't know how they will react when they come back, and although they might be impressed with Dynamos league standing, I am not impressed with their talent, and I'll be doing everything in my power to move them on.

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment, mulling over the recent decisions I have made...

The stadium needed to be bought so that the facilities can be upgraded;
The ability to upgrade the facilities will have knock on effects, namely;
Attract a better calibre of player to the club
Better academy graduates will make us less reliant on the open market over the long term.

In the same breath though, I have no idea how the purchase of the stadium will impact our finances. Here is hoping that my financial prudence over the last ten months means that the loan (if we need one) isn’t too prohibitive

In terms of recruitment for next term, I have made sensible plays in the market and stayed true to myself by not wanting to pay exorbitant transfer fees. I have limited myself to paying 5K a piece for a couple of my foreign players and have recently paid 9K for utility Adele Mhlongo, but my spending has (I feel) been carefully considered and I have not spent for the sake of spending.

The promotion to the PSL has given me pause for thought, particularly around the five foreign nationals limit. I can still only scout Africa, and while I have targets lined up, my scouts believe they would fail to get a work permit. The flip side of the argument is that I already have three foreign players in my starting lineup, and I should consider myself lucky to have got those. Do I show my hand now, and make an offer for two more Africans and hope they get permits, or do I wait and potentially get a better range from the Board, which would allow me to sign different players? Is the Board better likely to listen to me when we are in the Prem Division? Are my wage/transfer budgets going to be cut back because we bought the stadium?

Part of the logic is also to do with the uncertainty of the existing contracted staff, particularly my keeper Masabo. If he was to leave, it would have to be for a small fortune, as I would need to replace both my keeper AND my captain. It would change the dynamic of the team, and I believe I would need to dip my toe into the foreign market to replace him, so I don’t want to chop my nose off to spite my face. Equally having two classy keepers in the squad would harm both players development, so would only look to replace Masabo if necessary.

South Africa have chopped their provisional side back. These are the players whom will contest the World Cup. Only the third rated goal-keeper plays football in Africa!

I've been offer an new two year (through to May '16) deal with Dynamos on GBP800 per week. I'll accept this, but will give more thought when accepting any future deals from them My thinking is based on how much more I may be able to achieve with the team.

Absolutely fascinating story you have here, and it is pretty evident you have brought a team out of lowly depths to one that can now look forward to a great future. Although loyalty is seen as a good thing, I hope you can leave the club before it stagnates. I noticed you just signed a new contract, but as a friend (not a reader), I hope it is your last. Your accomplishments will surely guarantee a club with a higher reputation, with better choice of players and youth candidates.

I understand where you are coming from when you talk about overpriced kids, and other club throwing around close to a Million bucks when you can't even afford 10k. It hurts when your chairman says, "it was just too good of an offer to refuse", doesn't it?

#60165 Kiwi : Thanks for commenting (and reading) Akash, the thread counter does tell it's own story!

I'm not sure how my finances and cash on hand compare with other clubs in the country, but I need to carefully consider every signing and contract, and endeavour to keep a very tight rein on spending. The rules of the league say that five of your match day squad (eighteen players) need to be under twenty three. As a general rule, I don't like to sign players over twenty four, so that might be why I am struggling with the sheer cost of players. The two young players I have bought in for next season were available for minimal compo (9K), but there were some big numbers showing up from other clubs (particularly Pirates and Cosmos) where we had to withdraw from talks based on the compo payable.

It was disappointing that we weren't able to win the FA Cup quarter without the penalties. I was cussing when we conceded a late goal to take the match into extra time and then penalties. To be fair, Blackburn RSA played extremely well and nearly took the game away from us. As far as I can tell, they are (in game) playing in the league below NFD, the Vodacom League Eastern Cape League, so we should have been able to put them away easily; and it also meant that Dynamos FC had the easiest run into the SA FA Cup semis from all the teams still in the competition.

I believe there is a Champions League for the African Nations, the next iteration in the real world is the 2013 CAF Champions League, which the Orlando Pirates are competing, but I can't see this competition in game? I'll need to work my way up to top of the Prem League to see whether there is another "champion league" competition first!

#60074 akash.vidyasagar :
I have been reading update to update, although I haven't really commented.
You needn't worry about your finances till you are doing well in your cup competitions. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting you to win this match, but penalties was your saviour.
So, you need to win the FA Cup for Champions League football, right? Or is the league the only way you can get there?

I'm not sure why you are finding players to be overpriced.
The transfers/wages are around the same in the "smaller" European leagues.

Same with the prize money. How much did you expect for winning the league?

Anyway ... good job on the promotion. Hope you do well in the PSL.