Is it the end of Willard Katsande’s career?

JOHANNESBURG. — Kaizer Chiefs legend Patrick Mabedi has shared his thoughts on Willard Katsande’s uncertain future as the veteran midfielder celebrates his 34th birthday.

The Zimbabwean hardman, who turned 34 yesterday, is in his ninth season at Naturena since joining the South African Premiership football club from Ajax Cape Town in 2011.

He is also one of the players whose contracts are coming to an end in June this year, meaning he is now able to sign a pre-contract with any other team.

Chiefs legend and former assistant coach Patrick Mabedi believes it would be foolish of the club to get rid of Katsande as he is still able to do the job on the field.

“You mean Kitoko? I call him Kitoko (Mutoko), which is his area there in Zimbabwe. Look, my opinion as a coach, as a player, as a supporter, as an athlete . . . I mean he has been the backbone of that team, he has done well,” Mabedi tells KickOff.com.

“People must consider the contribution that he does. I mean to me he’s the type of player that’s got some years left, he’s just born energetic. So my opinion of Katsande is it’s not right to write him off, he’s evergreen. That’s what I can say about Kitoko.

“You must remember, football is all about how you look after yourself as an individual and how you manage yourself. We make a mistake here in Africa by sometimes judging players by age.

“We just need to manage their training methodology. The way we manage them is very important because you can’t expect Katsande to train the same way that you train an Under-20 player. So the volume must be different.

“He still has some legs to go. For me, why do you need to let somebody go that is doing well? I mean if something is not broken in your house, why do you need to change it and try to get rid of it and try to get something else?” Amakhosi have not lost a game in which Katsande has played this season. — KickOff.com