Amazulu boss Benni McCarthy has sent out a stern message to Phakamani Mahlambi, saying the midfielder is not guaranteed any minutes on the pitch except he works hard and justifies a point to be considered in the starting lineup.
The midfielder joined Usuthu on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns in January in search of game-time. However, that has not worked as planned and the 23-year-old faces the possibility of remaining on the fringes for the remainder of Amazulu’s campaign.
So far, Mahlambi has made only two substitute appearances under Amazulu colors and has not made an appearance in their last 10 league outings.
Quizzed on the lack of minutes for the midfielder, McCarthy simply says players will have to earn their game-time on the pitch.
He said in an interview: “Like I said, I don’t know how many times I must repeat myself; players need to work to play in the team. Players need to impress themselves and that’s simple as it is. If you don’t see yourself playing in the team it’s because you’re not working hard enough. There’s no two ways or three ways or any other thing other than the work. I don’t care about talent, because talent doesn’t not help if anyone doesn’t work hard, they don’t play with me simple,” said McCarthy, speaking to journalists.
He added: “I have not given up on anyone, I never give up on anyone. You still have to fight your teammates for competition. No one in life gets an easy ride. I have seen far too many players… top class, world class players who don’t succeed because of that way, because people are always making excuses or people are always like they have the quality and they don’t need to work hard and expect that you can use them in your team. At the end of the day it’s a coach that gets fired because you go against your principle. My principle is simple, talent with no hard work don’t work. So, you need to have both attributes to play,” the coach warned.
With Amazulu still well in the running for a top three spot, it is unlikely that McCarthy will experiment with his lineup at this stage of the season. Only the best will start for Amazulu at this point in time, except in the case of injuries and/or suspensions.