Hands off my players‚ says a peeved Cape Town City owner Comitis

Cape Town City chairman John Comitis is bracing himself for a fight with his well-heeled Premier Soccer League (PSL) rivals and he says he will not entertain interest in his players in the domestic off-season.

City claimed the Telkom Knockout trophy in December in what has been a fairytale first season in the PSL for the newly-formed club and Comitis expects clubs with deeper pockets to start sniffing around his players.

Stars like Lebogang Manyama have been targeted by big spenders Mamelodi Sundowns but Comitis is having none of that.

“There are a lot of rumours about our players moving here and there‚ which I can tell you now I'm not going to tolerate‚" Comitis said.

• PSL rejects Chippa' attempt to get Chiefs defender Gordinho into hot waterChippa United’s attempt to seek punishment for Kaizer Chiefs defender Lorenzo Gordinho after a leg-breaking tackle on their midfielder Buyile Sali has been rejected by the Premier Soccer League‚ officials said on Wednesday. 

"We want to keep the squad together and build from what we have.

"It's going to be tough because we're not the surprise element anymore and teams will plan better against us.

"It's going to be tough next season.”

Comitis cut a desolate and disconsolate figure in the Lucas Moripe Stadium tunnel in the aftermath of their soul destroying 4-2 loss to SuperSport United on Tuesday night.

The month of May has been a testing one for the league's newbies and their resolve has been found wanting.

• Pitso Mosimane talks too much and he must shut up‚ says TinklerAmbitious upstarts Cape Town City have responded to Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane's interest in star player Lebogang Manyama by threatening to make audacious bids for Downs' own star Percy Tau and Kaizer Chiefs' Siphiwe Tshabalala. 

Having not lost a game since the start of the year‚ their losses to Maritzburg United and SuperSport cut their league lives at the jugular.

Those six lost points would have put City in first place on 58 points‚ which would examined Wits' desire with Gavin Hunt's side facing a daunting trip to Bethlehem to face Free State Stars with their 57 points.

Comitis knows his team ran out of gas when they were supposed to be finding their fifth and sixth gears but didn't fault them for effort.

“The most important thing left for us now is to compete for that African berth and I think that we can manage because that's realistic.

• PSL going down to the wire as Sundowns beat PiratesChampions Mamelodi Sundowns will not give up their Premiership title without a fight and they have ensured that the race will go down to the wire after beating Orlando Pirates in an exciting league encounter at Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

"We need three points from the next two games. Hopefully we could get all six. When I started the team‚ I budgeted for eighth and that when we were at the top‚ we embraced that position.

“We rode that wave very well but unfortunately we've been dumped. Our lack of depth caught up with us because we ran a trim squad of 24 but we had a fantastic sports science department.

"Once the injuries caught up‚ we didn't have the depth to carry us through.”

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport