FC PLATINUM coach Hendrikus Pieter de Jongh has taken a swipe at Highlanders boss Nhlanhla Dube for snubbing him after the Castle Challenge Cup between the platinum miners and Bosso on Saturday.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
The former Highlanders coach was not amused that Dube chose not to acknowledge or congratulate him after he led his new side to a win over the Bulawayo giants.
This was the first show of the strained relations between De Jongh and his former paymasters after the Dutch national snubbed a contract extension offer from Bosso to cross the floor and join the wealthy FC Platinum.
Yesterday morning, De Jongh posted on his micro-blogging site Twitter handle @Pieter de Jongh/The Champ that Dube had ignored him and former Highlanders midfielder Denzel Khumalo, who also crossed the floor to FC Platinum.
The Dutchman said all this happened after he had had a pleasant chat with Highlanders coach Mark Harrison and posted a picture of himself with the Briton at Barbourfields Stadium.
“Bosso gaffa (sic) took time to chat with me, but surprisingly, club CEO (Nhlanhla Dube) refused to acknowledge my presence and Denzel during the presentation ceremony,” De Jongh said in the tweet in which he tagged Highlanders and various media houses.
Highlanders did not respond to the post. Contacted for comment, Dube who acknowledged having seen the post, was diplomatic in his response.
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“It is always important to be careful about careless and wanton display of ego, particularly when we posture such in public. It is critical for football that when we represent institutions, we do not carelessly make comments that may strain relations that exist between sporting bodies while speaking in our personal capacities,” he said.
FC Platinum won the match 2-0 with a brace from Silas Songani, while Denzel Khumalo made a substitute appearance.
After the Saturday match, De Jongh also took a swipe at Bosso’s alleged lack of professionalism.
“I am the FC Platinum coach; I am at Platinum to win titles and cups and this is the first cup and this is what I want. That is the reason why I left Highlanders because Platinum are very professional in everything and I can only focus on football and not other things,” he said.
