Pule on the bench for Cup final
SuperSport United coach Pitso Mosimane revealed on Thursday that mercurial but wayward midfielder Jabu Pule might make his eagerly awaited debut for the club in Saturday's SAA Supa8 final clash against Bloemfontein Celtic at Olen Park Stadium after passing fitness tests during the week.
Mosimane indicated that Pule, who is in camp with his team-mates, would start on the bench on Saturday and might be introduced in the second half as an impact player if the flow of the game allowed for that to happen.
Earlier in the week, I did not believe that he would be on the bench for this game.
But he has done a lot of work at training and our medical team are happy with his fitness. The only problem now is his match fitness, Mosimane said from Potchefstroom.
Pule hasn't played competitive soccer in the four months since he left his former Austrian club SV Mattersburg, but has proved to be a player for the big occasion and the final might just be the right stage for him on which to resurrect his career.
Celtic coach Paul Dolezar is set to make a risky positional switch in his starting line-up against the defending champions.
To counter United's talented midfield combination of the likes of Peter Khoabane, Edward Williams, Sibusiso Mahlangu, Daine Klate and possibly Pule, the charismatic French-born mentor on Thursday disclosed that he had taken a decision to play defender Sashi Chalwe on the middle of the park.
Dolezar believes the Zambian international and former Mamelodi Sundowns defender will be able to destabilise the core of United's attacking system.
I am going to play him in front of the three defenders and just behind the two creative central midfielders in a different formation and I hope that he will do the job both as a linkman and destroyer, Dolezar said with optimism.
If this risky plan should unfold as planned, offensive midfielders Siyabonga Nkosi and Kleinbooi Taaibos will benefit a lot as most of the dirty work will fall in the path of the highly talented Chalwe.
This will allow them to attack more and more with the assurance that if they lose possession, Chalwe will be there to cover for them.
It looks like a good plan on paper, but it might backfire horribly if Chalwe fails to acclimatise to this demanding role, leaving the whole system in danger of collapse.
In their last game, in which Celtic surrendered a 1-0 half-time lead to eventually lose the match 3-1, Dolezar believes that they lost mainly as a result of silly mistakes by goalkeeper Postnet Omony.
If he doesn't return to his best, the Ugandan international goal minder might be severely punished by a strong United attack.