- Ngcobo arrived at Chiefs as PSL Defender of the Season
- But after two seasons at Naturena, his future looks bleak
- His former club Swallows want him back
WHAT HAPPENED? In the past two seasons he has been at Chiefs, Ngcobo has been struggling for game time. This is despite high expectations of him after arriving at the club as the PSL Defender of the Season at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
Now, AmaZulu and Swallows FC are reportedly after the player whose Amakhosi contract expires in June 2024. Maswaiswai chairman David Mogashoa says they want the 29-year-old back in the Birds’ nest.
WHAT MOGASHOA SAID: "Very disappointed, I think he's also disappointed that he did not get game time. I'm open to talks if they [Chiefs] want to send him out, I'm willing to take him," Mogashoa said as per Soccer Laduma.
"He did very well [at Swallows]. I always say to people the pressure at Swallows is not the same pressure at Chiefs. You can be a very good player at Swallows and be a bad player at Chiefs," he said.
"Simply because the weight that you're carrying at Chiefs is so much that after one mistake you find yourself at the wrong side of the fence.
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"Whereas at Swallows you make a mistake and recover but Chiefs, [Orlando] Pirates are very difficult to recover from a mistake. I mean they criticise you even for your dress code.
"I saw them [Chiefs fans] criticising Arthur Zwane saying, 'You can't coach Chiefs wearing a polo neck'. I mean, what is that? Pressures are different you know."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The arrival of Given Msimango and Thatayaone Ditlhokwe at Chiefs further places Ngcobo's future at Naturena under a cloud of uncertainty. He was already struggling for game time with Zitha Kwinika, Edmilson Dove and Siyabonga Ngezana being preferred by coach Arthur Zwane.
That makes Naturena highly unlikely to be his home next season as Zwane is clearing space to accommodate the new arrivals in an exercise that has already seen the departure of another centre-back Erick Mathoho. But if he stays at Amakhosi, Ngcobo will have a lot of hard work to do in fighting for a place in the team.
WHAT NEXT FOR NGCOBO? The Amakhosi defender now waits for the club to decide on his future as Chiefs are finalising a list of players leaving the club.
