Nchanga Rangers FC began the season on a high note, taking the table lead in week two after winning their first two games. But things are not going swimmingly for the Chingola-based side.
They couldn’t handle the pressure and kept dropping points, landing them in the relegation zone.
The team’s coach, Agrey Chiyangi has been in charge of ten games since his appointment during the mid-season break. He has only won two, drawn four, and lost four.
Last weekend, Nchanga Rangers suffered a 2-1 loss to Nkwazi, which was their tenth defeat of the season.
Chiyangi claims that his team’s poor conversion rate of goals is the result of the departure of Congolese talisman Christian Saile, whom they sold to the Kaizer Chiefs during the mid-season break and haven’t replaced.
“The biggest difference is that Saile was a goal scorer. And at the moment, the ones we have are also good strikers, but you see, personalities differ. So what is important is to help the ones that we have in the team at least come up to that level of competing in the Super League,” he explained.
Relegation knocking on Nchanga Rangers’ door, Chiyangi worried
Chiyangi also admitted that Nchanga Rangers’ current position in the league standings is worrying.
“It’s worrying, but we cannot give up; we still have seven games to go, and we just have to make sure that in the remaining games we do better, and that’s what’s important for now.”
Saile was instrumental at Nchanga Rangers in the past two seasons and he was the top scorer in the National League scoring 19 goals.
He helped them gain promotion to the Super League, scoring seven league goals this season before being sold to Kaizer Chiefs for a reported record fee of K7.5 million.
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The Chingola-based club has arguably not found Saile’s replacement given their poor run of results.
Nchanga Rangers have played 27 games, winning seven, drawing ten, and losing ten. With 31 points, they are currently ranked 15th in the League standings.
