Molekwa wants to repay the faith shown in him at Polokwane

BERNARD MOLEKWA never worried about job security as a player and he won’t start doing so now in a more treacherous environment as a coach.

This is despite him being in charge of Polokwane City, who have had eight coaches in the last five years and a string of people serving in the interim in between.

Molekwa, pictured, was one of those. He held the fort with Makweni Mayala in 2015 after Kosta Papic resigned and returned this year with Phuti Mohafe to lead “Rise and Shine” after Luc Eymael’s abrupt resignation.

Molekwa made the most of the solid foundation Eymael laid, guiding Polokwane to their first top-eight finish to earn the job on a permanent basis.

“Here, it is not all about staying or whatever,” Molekwa said. “For me this is about growing as a coach and repaying the faith shown in me by the chairman. I have been at this club since they were Bay United and then renamed Polokwane City. I started out here as a player, captained the team and served as a team manager before working with the numerous coaches that we’ve had.

“I am not the one to worry about my future because I believe that my hard work will guide me. I wasn’t fazed when Polokwane Pillars, Winners Park and Bay United were sold when I was there as a player because I knew I would do well regardless of who owned those teams.”

Molekwa started out as a striker before he was converted to a central midfielder, cleaning up to make the team look good. He has a similar role to play with Polokwane, clean up the image of the club and try to bring some stability.

“I was a player, unfortunately not many people know that part of my life,” Molekwa said. “I’ve worked closely with the coaches who have been here, assisting them and learning from them. When the chairman asked me to lead the team on the interim, I said okay. We got the results and he showed belief in me to give me the job on a permanent basis. I am looking forward to this challenge.”

The 40-year-old describes his coaching philosophy as centred on controlling the game by robbing the opponents of the ball, being stingy with it and making the most of Jabu Maluleke’s brilliant passing abilities. Molekwa holds a Caf D License.

“I will not stop there,” he said. “The plan is to empower myself as much as I can with as many coaching courses as I can attend. I always strive to improve on what I was yesterday so that I can be a better person tomorrow. I have the same philosophy in managing a team.”