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End of the road awaits Cosmos
13/05/2008 15:41 - (SA)
Johannesburg - It is do or die for Jomo Cosmos.
Defeat for Ezenkosi in their bottom of the Absa Premiership battle against Black Leopards at Orkney's Oppenheimer Stadium on Wednesday (15:00) will virtually condemn Cosmos to the First Division.
Cosmos face the other relegation threatened side, Thanda Royal Zulu, in Durban on the final day of the season on Sunday.
Cosmos are bottom going into their penultimate game against Leopards with 22 points, Leopards have 23 and TRZ 25.
TRZ face Bidvest Wits at Durban's Absa Stadium, also on Wednesday afternoon.
The bottom team in the Premiership is automatically relegated while the side finishing 15th in the 16-team division will go into the promotion/relegation playoffs with the sides finishing second, third and fourth in the National First Division.
Cosmos are in the worst position of the three relegation candidates. They need to win both their matches to finish with a maximum of 28 points, Leopards 29 and TRZ 31. But the fact they play each other means nerves will be stretched to breaking point over the next five days.
Destined for the NFD
Cosmos have scored only 13 goals in 28 games. They have drawn a massive 16 - 10 of which have been goalless and that is not good enough for a club to stay in the PSL.
The emotions driving them to avoid the drop has seen the Ezenkosi play well, but playing well and losing does not help a team destined for the NFD. In their last game they almost got a point, but a late goal plunged them into further despair as Mamelodi Sundowns beat them 1-0 at the same venue last Wednesday.
Downs and Celtic had one thing in common - they were coming up from dismal runs and changes in the coaching staff suddenly saw them improve.
This is not an approach Cosmos coach and owner Jomo Sono subscribes to. Despite calls from their 500 or so supporters, and more the media, to appoint a coach other than himself, the Black Prince has refused to make any changes.
An obvious mistake the Cosmos coach made was to consign Liberian international Anthony Laffor to the development squad after he found out the skilful striker signed a pre-contract for SuperSport United. Laffor, one of the better players at Cosmos, is contracted to Sono's side until the end of the season and his axing coincided with Cosmos downward spiral.
Expect draw number 17 on Wednesday and no hope of redemption for a club that once provided Bafana Bafana with three players in their 1996 African Cup of Nations winning squad. They were mark Fish, Helm Mkhalele and Phil Masinga.
A lack of foresight, stubbornness and, more importantly, a deficiency of goals, have paved a road to nowhere at the end of the season.
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