10 Apr 2023

Rapelang ‘Razor’ Tsatsilebe is on course to fulfil his mandate as charged by Nico United management.

His mandate is succinct: save the team from relegation.

Therefore, he is sharpening Majombolo ‘Razor-sharp’ to cut through even the hardest surfaces to do just that.

Majombolo are chisel-like tools used at BCL mine to drill through rocky surface underground, and Nico being a Selebi Phikwe team that trains a stone’s throw from the mine, derived the moniker from the same.

Announced the new coach on March 14, Tsatsilebe has sat on the bench three times.

He prevailed 2-0 over BDF XI on his first assignment, before being rendered blunt by Eleven Angels, who got one over Majombolo in Francistown.

Tsatsilebe’s boy to draw blood against Molepolole’s Masitaoka, rendering Razor’s sharpness one that Nico management could rely on to reach the heights they set.

“My mandate is to save the team from relegation,” Tsatsilebe said in a post-match interview, after beating Masitaoka 2-1 at Sam Sono Stadium.

Tsatsilebe believes he is on course to fulfilling his mandate before the end of the second round. “Yeah, we’re getting there. We’ve set targets that we will constantly assess after every five games to see how we’re faring as a team,” he said.

Tsatsilebe said although he had led the squad for only three assignments, succeeding in two was a clear sign that his efforts would bear fruits.

“It’s a work in progress and so long as we’re collecting points at home we’re on the right track,” he added.

The second round of the league seems to be serving unpredictable results as many teams vie to avoid dropping, while others are positioning themselves for the top eight bracket.

“Second round is becoming tough for us…there’re a lot of shocking results. Teams that are at relegation zone are fighting with and for everything,” Masitaoka coach, Mandla Mpofu said after going down to Nico.

Although his team has been on a phase of poor results, post international break, Mpofu believes they did themselves a good favour by collecting as many points as they could in the first round.

The first round points have helped cushion Majatlhaga, as Masitaoka are famed, against second round deficits. The three games post international break were a nightmare, according to coach Mpofu.

However, Majatlhaga will be fighting for the top eight bracket, according to the coach whose mandate too is to avoid relegation and play as many youth as they possible in their team.

“Fight, fight and fight, I always tell these boys that this is the only thing they can do for this team,” the gaffer said. ENDS