'I’m surprised he didn’t make it' - Papic bewildered to see Ntshangase flop at Kaizer Chiefs

Black Leopards head coach Kostadin Papic is surprised to see Siphelele Ntshangase fail to live up to expectations at Kaizer Chiefs.

The skillful playmaker is a free agent having been released by Chiefs earlier this month and he is now searching for a new club.

Ntshangase made just two appearances in the PSL under coach Gavin Hunt this season and his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Papic, who was the coach at Leopards when Ntshangase was still there in 2013 and 2014, is open to working with the 27-year-old player again. 

“I don’t know what the problem with him at Chiefs was and why he struggled,” Papic told Sowetan on Friday.

“When you go to other clubs, the mentality changes and your mind changes, and if you don’t control it, things like this can happen.

“I don’t have a problem working with him again, but that depends on him, it doesn't depend on me."

Ntshangase played some of his best football at Leopards in the National First Division under Papic and he was a regular in the South Africa under-23 national team at the time.

Papic is in his second stint as Leopards coach having rejoined the Limpopo-based side last month, and he has been tasked with ensuring that the team avoids relegation from the PSL.

The former Orlando Pirates coach suggested that perhaps Chiefs did not trust Ntshangase, who made his international debut for Bafana Bafana against Eswatini in March 2015.

"I have always liked a player who has a good quality like him, willing to play and willing to learn," he added. 

“I’m surprised that he didn’t make it at Chiefs, but what can I do?

"Probably how he has trained and played maybe why people at Chiefs didn’t trust him, meaning he has to change something on his lifestyle and attitude.”

Ntshangase struggled to establish himself under four different coaches at Chiefs, Steve Komphela, Giovanni Solinas, Ernst Middendorp and Hunt.

The Pongola-born player joined Chiefs from Baroka FC midway through the 2017/18 season. 

He made just 14 appearances in the league during his time with the Soweto giants.