Komphela on handling expansive squad of 17 new players at Free State Stars

28 Nov 2012 8:49:00 AM

Free State Stars coach Steve Komphela says handling a squad with 17 newcomers this season has not been easy as the club continue to return intermittent results

Stars introduced a record number of new signings at the beginning of the new campaign, most of them without any previous top flight experience and Komphela says getting them up to standard has been tough.

“They’ve had to undergo a programme of integration. I’ve tried to keep the same structures throughout the club but we’ve had to make adjustments.

“But that’s the task of the technical team, working both on the skills as well as the mental aspect of the new players. Many are kids from the lower league who have found that it is not easy at this level.”

Komphela says he might not be tempted to bulk buy in the same fashion again.

“If we had a better goal scorer in our squad we’d be talking something completely different,” added the former Bafana Bafana captain.

“But the youngsters will grow in confidence and we’ve had some success stories already this season already. I believe in putting the youngsters in to the team because if we don’t then there is no point in signing them.

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