Former Moroka Swallows coach Walter Rautmann has hit out at the ease with which iconic clubs are allowed to vanish in the blink of an eye, following the deal that will see Marumo Gallants taking the Dube Birds' slot in the DStv Premiership from next season.
Rautmann, famous as a messiah who was often a phone call away from club bosses in relegation trouble, had four stints as coach of Swallows, having also played for them after settling in from his native country, Austria.
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In fact, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more well-travelled coach, with the 78-year-old having taken charge of as many as 12 teams in different divisions in South Africa, including AmaZulu, African Wanderers, Tembisa Classic and Black Leopards.
Having also played the game at the highest level, including for LASK back in his home country as well as Highlands Park in Mzansi, the outspoken mentor is bewildered by the mayhem and madness that is the frequent buying and selling of clubs in the DStv Premiership.
The latest such deal involves the Dube Birds, for whom it took a couple of millions and a handshake between bosses David Mogashoa and Abram Sello to sell the club's elite division status to Gallants.
"How can this circus go on?" fires off the veteran.
"Clubs are being sold and bought like fish and chips. A historic club like Swallows has been sold again. These owners are only in the game for money, not for love of the club or for the supporters. They make big money out of the sale of players and are not interested to build their clubs up. It's shameful that this is allowed.
"Can you imagine Man City being relegated and then they buy Man United to come back [to the Premier League], and then two years later they sell City to relegated Newcastle [United]? What a joke! No country with pride can allow this. I played for Swallows, coached them four times, we played in front of 25000 Swallows fans at Orlando Stadium with pride, for the love of the Birds.
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"Rest in peace, the Dube Birds, in honour of [Daniel] 'Vader' Mophosho, [Joel] 'Ace' Mnini,[Norman] 'Goal Power' Makhetla, Brian 'Stopper' Tlale, [Aaron] 'Roadblock' Makhathini, James 'Manelo' Rapelego and more.