Barker Backs Rayners For Player Of The Season
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker believes that the PSL Footballer of the Season award must go to Mamelodi Sundowns and supports Iqraam Rayners as a strong contender for the award.
The former Stellenbosch player has had a very good season with Sundowns, contributing 13 goals and nine assists, while his teammate, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, has 14 goals and 8 assists.
Both these players scored in their 3-0 victory over Stellenbosch at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Barker backs Rayners as a potential candidate for the award, given the number of goals and assists he’s had this season. Furthermore, he highlighted Riberio and Marcelo Allende’s great performance throughout the season, which qualifies them for potential nominations.
“Yeah, he is, he has to be, I think,” said Barker.
“You know if you look at the amount of goals he scored and the amount of assists he’s had, he’s a very key player, so there’s no doubt that player of the season must come from Sundowns, you know. They’ve got a couple of candidates, Riberio has had a really good season, so as Igraam, like Allende, he’s very influential, so right round they have.”
He continued, “Before today [on Sunday], we had only conceded 17 goals in the league, and I felt that defender of the season. I believe we have some really good candidates, Thabo Moloisane, Fawaaz Basadien, and Ismael Toure, so you know, conceding three goals today [on Sunday] was not part of the plan, but I still trust that we have defenders that deserve to be nominated but to answer your question directly, Igraam is definitely a candidate.”
Stellies currently sit in 4th position in the Betway Premiership with 44 points. Furthermore, they lost the MTN8 final to Orlando Pirates, Marumo Gallants knocked them out in the Carling Black Label quarterfinals, Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup semi-finals, and Simba S.C. in the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals.
Despite being a young club, the Stellenbosch tactician has revealed that they are happy with the team’s progress.
“We’re doing well, and we’ve got our model and our strategy. We’re doing well in terms of that for a young team, to be where we are and challenging at the top end of the table and making semi-finals and making finals, I think,” Barker.
“We’re happy with what we’re doing, and I do think we’ve laid a good foundation now, where perhaps the next step could be one to sort of find ways to kick up,” Barker stated.
