Investment the catalyst of Callies' current form – Kopo

Pretoria Callies are on a 12-game unbeaten run in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, and their mentor, Kwanele Kopo, has credited management and players for trusting the new process at the club.

On January 13, Callies lost 2-1 to JDR Stars and it was their ninth loss in 13 matches. That defeat saw them rooted at the bottom of the table. What would happen after that is a change in results as the team has gone on an unprecedented run that's seen them win seven and draw five matches out of 12 played. 

The latest result was a 1-0 win over Venda FA courtesy of an Oswin Appollis goal. The three points from the weekend saw them go into eighth place with 32 points, securing their status after they stared at the face of relegation in the first half of the season. 

"To be honest with you, I didn't think I will be with Callies by this time because of our results last year. Despite being written off and put as the first candidate for relegation, we have been able to turn it around, and we've had a very good run and we have surprised ourselves, to be honest. Everybody involved in the project deserves credit," Kopo told Sowetan yesterday. 

Kopo elaborated on what has been the catalyst of their feat. He revealed that is a result of a model adopted by the club to ensure it has a culture, financially sustainable and competitive on the field through a three-year process. 

"There are two ways to be successful, one is if you have money, you can get all the players you want and the resources can go for instant results. The second is where you don't have money, then you go for a building process and that's what I put forward to Callies at the beginning of the season because it's not a club with money. 

"The results that have come from January, it's a mix of investing in the process and a reflection of the work that we have been doing from the beginning of the season, there's nothing we are doing differently. The players have matured and the young ones are doing well. 

"The process seems to be coming to fruition, our target this season has always been to finish in the middle of the table because it's year one of a three-year plan. Up until this weekend, it has always been about getting out of relegation and after this weekend we can comfortably say mathematically we are out of relegation, the players want to finish in the top six. 

NFD results: Baroka 1, Black Leopards 0; TTM 2, All Stars 2; Magesi 1, Platinum City Rovers 0; Hungry Lions 1, Uthongathi 0; Polokwane City 0, Pretoria University 0; Casric Stars 1, NB La Masia 0; JDR Stars 2, Cape Town Spurs 0; Pretoria Caillies 1, Venda FA 0.