Rollers, BMC at loggerheads

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Correspondent | Thursday June 26, 2008 00:00

 

BMC are accusing Rollers of negotiating with their goalkeeper Cosmos Lombala before seeking permission from his team while Rollers say the former is guilty of the same offence after they started negotiating with defender Musa Ohilwe without their knowledge.

BMC public relations officer Tiny Letoane told Mmegi Sport that Lombala vanished from Ezinkomo camp last week and is reported to be negotiating with Rollers for a transfer. 

'He has just disappeared and is not reachable, we have tried to phone him because at first we thought he had a problem but we learnt through one of our players that he was seen with some Rollers' officials. The other thing is that Rollers have been frequenting Lombala's house seeking his signature before the transfer window could even open, he (Lombala) has told us that before he left,' she said.

Letoane said that her team would seek the intervention of the Premier League Committee (PLC) to address the problem saying that she was disappointed at the way Rollers were behaving. Meanwhile, Rollers' communications manager Molatlhegi Mangole denied that his team opened negotiations with the Coca-Cola Cup winning goalkeeper without permission from BMC.

'It is surprising that after they (BMC) opened negotiations with Ohilwe and convinced him to join them before talking to us, they are turning around and making us look the bad guys,' Mangole said.

The Under-23 defender is said to have written a resignation letter indicating that he is rejoining BMC, something which Mangole said was a clear indication that both the defender and BMC started talking about a transfer way before the transfer window opened.

'By the time they wrote us, they had already talked to the player and they think we do not know that. Actually we thought because we are interested in Lombala, we could discuss an exchange deal with BMC, with Lombala joining us while Ohilwe goes the opposite direction. We are interested in Lombala but we have not talked to him yet,' he said. 

Mangole disclosed that if BMC comes with a good deal, they would be willing to release Ohilwe to join his former team. Rollers have also written to BMC requesting to negotiate with young sweeper Vincent Modise as well as midfield dynamo Bobo Motlhalane.

However, Letoane said that they are still negotiating with the two players to stay in Lobatse because 'they form the nucleus of our team and we might have to start all over again if they go'. 'Vincent is a player from our development and we still believe we can improve him into a better player. He has the potential to grow if he plays in an environment where pressure is less , but like I said, it is a question of trying to give them what they want and convince them to stay'.

Notwane are also reported to be chasing young defenders Mosimanegape Ramohibidu and Tumisang Sekanonyana though BMC still claims ignorance of such reports.