Siphelele “Stash” Ntshangase is a former Kaizer Chiefs attacking midfielder who recently signed for Dstv premiership newcomers, Marumo Gallants.
The Pongola-born midfielder started his professional career in the Limpopo Province for Thohoyandou side, Black Leopards. It was back in 2013 where the 28-year-old joined Lidoda Duvha that plays in the GladAfrica Championships which was known as the National First Division.
Stash enjoyed an incredible run with Leopards where he rapidly made a name for himself.
Supporters of the beautiful game noticed the exceptional special talent Stash possessed and he became an instant fan-favorite in his first stint as a professional player. He went on to make more than 50 appearances for Lidoda Duvha and was instrumental for the club during his stay from 2013-2017.
With his elusive performances and style of play, Nshangase eventually earned his first callup to Bafana Bafana in 2015 which was under the leadership of Shakes Mashaba at the time.
He maintained his place in the Under-23 team but with his astounding work in the field of play, he quickly went up the ranks and joined the senior squad of Mashaba. During this time, Stash scored two goals in the colours of the men’s football national team in the African Football Cup of Nations (CHAN) against Mauritius in 2015. This evidently proved that the midfield maestro had ticked all the right boxes and would become a prominent player for the Bafana Bafana team in the future.
Ntshangase’s illustrious career grew even further when he earned a move to Baroka in 2017 which was long overdue because a player of his caliber should’ve been playing in the PSL already as many believed. He went to enjoy a short spell with Bakgaga ba Ga-Mphahlele before moving to Gauteng province where he joined Kaizer Chiefs in 2018.
The pressure of playing for a big club like Chiefs is well documented, but a player like Ntshangase was certainly believed he would live up to expectations and deliver for Amakhosi. It was a signing that was most wanted by supporters of the club. The management of the Naturena outfit did not disappoint in appeasing the fans.
Ntshangase joined the club when Steve Komphela was still at the helm for Amakhosi. He promised the fans ‘champagne passes’ and was seen as the newly-found missing link in the Chiefs’ attack.
Things did not go according to plan as Komphela in most cases seemingly preferred to use the skilled midfielder from the bench and did not give him many opportunities in the starting lineup.
Following the sacking of Komphela, Giovanni Solinas took over Amakhosi and things swiftly changed for Ntshangase. He was now used more often by the attacking-minded coach, and he was seen enjoying his football once again and the promised ‘champagne passes’ were effortlessly delivered.
Unfortunately, Ntshangase’s astonishing flow was short-lived as the Italian coach did not stay for too long following his sacking halfway through the season. This saw Ernest Midderndorp being appointed as the new head coach of the club.
The German coach came in and changed things as expected. One of his changes along the way was Ntshangase as he decided not to use him more often and even publicly said, “ I don’t think Ntshangase is close to breaking into the starting team. He likes to pass, pass, pass, pass and then pass again. It looks nice but I’m sorry football is about goals and results” Midderndorp said on SAfm while he was still in charge of Amakhosi.
Many accused the coach of killing the player by uttering those words and it certainly looked like that. Ntshangase was no longer motivated, it was clear he had no role to play in Midderndorp’s team, and whenever he was given a rare chance by the coach he was no longer the same.
Chiefs’ ban by FIFA in signing new players meant they had to keep and rely on the players they already had. Stash’s contract was renewed by one year and in came a new coach, Gavin Hunt. It was again thought Ntshangase would rise again under the mentorship of coach Gavin and become the player he once was but that was not the case.
He continued to be excluded from matchday squads for unknown reasons and it was clear that the talent that had a great potential to prosper and reach greater heights had fallen. He was later released by Chiefs towards the end of last season.
In the field of play, Ntshangase seemed to be a player that believed more in having the ball and let others around him do the work. His off-the-ball movements were not so impressive. He appeared not to be the type of player that eagerly wanted to help the team regain possession – this led to many describing him as ‘lazy’.
The common style of play of Komphela, Midderndorp, and Hunt requires players to be hard workers. More especially when it comes to defending, they demand players to defend and attack as a team.
Perhaps one could say Ntshangase needed a coach that would believe in him and build his team around him giving him the freedom to control things like Solinas did. Opinions differ but the truth of the matter is that Stash now needs to revive his career and prove he can still be useful.
Ntshangase has now joined Marumo where he will look to rebuild his career and rise to be the player everyone raved about before he joined Kaizer Chiefs.
Author: Mnotho Scelo Jiyane.
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