MOROKA Swallows coach Zeca Marques is desperate to get back to winning ways to prove he is worth his salt in top-flight football.
Marques said the Dube Birds were not in a rut following their 3-1 defeat to Maritzburg United at the weekend, a loss that stretched their winless streak to five league matches.
Marques is feeling the heat because Swallows are 10th on the log, while their ambition is to be title contenders. Comparisons are being made to the Swallows team that reached the MTN8 final in 2010 and avoided relegation on the last day of the season.
"I don't want to be in this position. Saying I am disappointed is using a nice word. Our supporters aren't happy with this kind of form," said Marques.
Yesterday, bottom club AmaZulu fired coach Roger Palmgren.
However, Marques has a patient boss in Swallows chairman Leon Prins and winning the Top 8 in September bought him more time.
"We have been unlucky in most of our games. We've got to regroup and dig deeper and fight more. At the back we also have to sharpen up," said Marques.
"Our concentration levels have to be improved and we need to talk to the players again because we know we can do better than this. We should be in the title race."
Swallows finished last season as runners-up to Orlando Pirates, with just two points separating the Soweto teams. Gordon Igesund, now with Bafana, was in charge then, with Marques as his assistant.
Marques has kept the core of the same team for this season, with Katlego Mashego, Felix Obada and Dikgang Mabalane notable additions. But the coach has been missing talisman Siyabonga Nomvethe, last season's top scorer with 20 goals, who is only likely to return in February because of a toe injury.
"I don't want to think of us getting into a rut, we have been there before. Sometimes during the season you have a bad run; maybe this is our bad run and we could improve after the break," said the coach.
If Swallows are to jump back into the title race, they have their work cut out for them as they trail log leaders Kaizer Chiefs by 13 points.
"We have a long season ahead of us, but the losses (six in the league) have hit us hard. However, we can't throw in the towel now," said Marques.
Marques not ready to throw in towel
MOROKA Swallows coach Zeca Marques is desperate to get back to winning ways to prove he is worth his salt in top-flight football.
Marques said the Dube Birds were not in a rut following their 3-1 defeat to Maritzburg United at the weekend, a loss that stretched their winless streak to five league matches.
Marques is feeling the heat because Swallows are 10th on the log, while their ambition is to be title contenders. Comparisons are being made to the Swallows team that reached the MTN8 final in 2010 and avoided relegation on the last day of the season.
"I don't want to be in this position. Saying I am disappointed is using a nice word. Our supporters aren't happy with this kind of form," said Marques.
Yesterday, bottom club AmaZulu fired coach Roger Palmgren.
However, Marques has a patient boss in Swallows chairman Leon Prins and winning the Top 8 in September bought him more time.
"We have been unlucky in most of our games. We've got to regroup and dig deeper and fight more. At the back we also have to sharpen up," said Marques.
"Our concentration levels have to be improved and we need to talk to the players again because we know we can do better than this. We should be in the title race."
Swallows finished last season as runners-up to Orlando Pirates, with just two points separating the Soweto teams. Gordon Igesund, now with Bafana, was in charge then, with Marques as his assistant.
Marques has kept the core of the same team for this season, with Katlego Mashego, Felix Obada and Dikgang Mabalane notable additions. But the coach has been missing talisman Siyabonga Nomvethe, last season's top scorer with 20 goals, who is only likely to return in February because of a toe injury.
"I don't want to think of us getting into a rut, we have been there before. Sometimes during the season you have a bad run; maybe this is our bad run and we could improve after the break," said the coach.
If Swallows are to jump back into the title race, they have their work cut out for them as they trail log leaders Kaizer Chiefs by 13 points.
"We have a long season ahead of us, but the losses (six in the league) have hit us hard. However, we can't throw in the towel now," said Marques.
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