When Khama Billiat surprisingly left Kaizer Chiefs in July, his former agent and friend Michael Ngobeni was as shocked as many. At the time, speculation had been rife that the player had several offers coming his way both locally and overseas, but Ngobeni was concerned that there was seemingly a rejection of a guaranteed offer from the Soweto giants. Several reports had suggested that he would have needed to accept a change in his package on the new deal, hence the rumours it might have been of his reasons to leave Naturena. Billiat has since surfaced at Yadah Stars FC in his home country. In a unique Siya Special this week, Soccer Laduma goes back to Ngobeni to hear his thoughts, and as always, he didn’t hold back!
Masebe Qina: Mike, welcome back. After so much speculation, Khama Billiat finally settled on Yadah Stars FC in Zimbabwe. What do you think of the move?
Michael Ngobeni: Alright. Firstly, I have to mention that I respect Yadah Stars management and the club’s head coach. To them, this is a good move, and it means they have managed to catch the biggest fish. But we’ve got to look at the other factors because there are two parties here – Khama and Yadah. For Yadah and Zimbabwean football, the fans and the league, this is a good move. Is the move good for Khama? I don’t think things happened the way he wanted. But as you know, in football, strange things happen. We will say for now that it’s good for him as well. If we say this is a bad move for him, which one will we then say was going to be a good move? This is someone who made his own decision and surely, he knew what he was doing when he boarded a plane to Zimbabwe to sign. Khama has been in South Africa for 13 years and playing football, and this is his home in terms of the game. There is nothing sinister about a player going back to his country to further his career. But the question is, did he go there because he was desperate, or was it possibly because it was the only deal he had? Perhaps that’s a topic for another day.
