How Bloemfontein Celtic learnt to live within their means

08 January 2020 - 13:32 By Mark Gleeson
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Mzwanele Mahashe of Bloemfontein Celtic injures himself while celebrating his goal during the Absa Premiership match between Stellenbosch FC and Bloemfontein Celtic at Cape Town Stadium on January 07, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Mzwanele Mahashe of Bloemfontein Celtic injures himself while celebrating his goal during the Absa Premiership match between Stellenbosch FC and Bloemfontein Celtic at Cape Town Stadium on January 07, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Image: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images

Bloemfontein Celtic have learnt to live within their means and are trying to make the best of a difficult situation in the wake of the financial woes that have beset the club since last season‚ says coach Lehlohonolo Seema.

Celtic last season saw coach Steve Komphela quit in exasperation with a bitter blast at the management of the club where a financial crisis had seen players go on strike‚ refuse to come to training and the struggling side put up for sale.

But while controversial tenderpreneur Max Tshabalala has not been able to get a buyer for the franchise‚ Celtic are defying the odds and moved up to seventh place in the premiership standings after beating Stellenbosch 2-1 away on Tuesday night.

“Everything is OK now‚ we haven’t had any issue‚ we haven’t had any problems‚ everything has been going OK‚” Seema said.

“Of course‚ it’s not all rosy but the chairman explained to us that although he would love to be able to buy (Diego) Maradona or (Cristiano) Ronaldo to beef up our squad‚ we all know the club’s situation.

“We are not that yet strong but we are OK.

“We said to him‚ ‘OK‚ chairman‚ we’ll work with what we have and make sure we keep fighting to the end and see’.

“At the moment‚ whatever the chairman has been doing (to keep the money coming in) has been working for us because the guys are happy‚ they are working‚ there are no problems.

“You can seed the kind of fight they put up.

“This was not any easy game‚ it was a tough‚ tough encounter and we could have lost it in the first half‚” he added after the victory at the Cape Town Stadium.

“But they resisted‚ they know what is at stake.

“We don’t want to let this club down‚ especially after going through what we went through.

“In short‚ things are better.”

Celtic‚ with 21 points from 16 games‚ next host Black Leopards at home at the Molemela Stadium on Sunday.

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