Being away from the glitz and glam sees ... Manyama ‘steal the bling’ at PSL awards
BEING away from the glitz and glamour of Johannesburg has contributed massively in Lebogang Manyama’s accomplishment.
It was Manyama’s night at the Premier Soccer league (PSL) on Monday at Sandton Convention Centre.
The Cape Town City striker walked away with three accolades. He scooped the big one, PSL Footballer of the Season, Player’s Player of the Season and the Golden boots awards.
The lad from Tembisa was rewarded with the whopping R425 000 for his contribution in 2016/17.
The footballer of the Season is worth R250 000 and the Player’s Player of the Season has prize money of R150 000. R25 000 is for his 13 strikes.
Speaking with the media after the awards, Manyama attributed his triumph to “the boring life of Cape Town”.
“There’s nothing with me and Cape Town. It is a matter of how I conducted myself mentally.
“Fortunately all the good moments happen when I’m in Cape Town. It’s a lovely place.
“We’ve earned so much respect in that part of the world. People love us that side.
“Maybe the reason I always do well in Cape Town is because life is slow, relax and boring. That’s helps more to focus on the game.
“If it is working why change it,” Manyama laments.
Manyama seem to enjoying life whenever he is in Cape Town. He was part of the Ajax Cape Town side that played vigilante football under Foppe de Haan in 2010/11.
During his spell with SuperSport United before he joined Mpumalanga Black Aces he made headlines for wrong reasons.
“To be quite honest, the seven months that I was out (injured) taught me a lot in how to approach my game.
“Even off the field, obviously I made couple of mistakes when I was at SuperSport. It is something I won’t hide and I learned from my mistakes.
“I always say in life you never lose but you learn. Even when I was out I watched the games and told myself that I must come back and enjoy myself.
“Luckily when I was injured coach Muhsin Ertugral called me to come and join him at Mpumalanga Black Aces.
“I think that was a life changing moment for me,” Manyama explains.
The Cape Town City marksman followed in the footsteps of legends like Siyabonga Nomvethe, Collins Mbesuma, Pollen Ndlanya and Wilfred Mugeyi who all won both footballer of the Season and the Golden Boots Awards.
Next season he will be working alongside former Bafana Bafana great Benni McCarthy who was recently hired as the new mentor of Cape Town City.
McCarthy replaced Eric Tinkler who joined SuperSport United to fill the void that was left by Stuart Baxter who is now the Bafana coach.
“I think before Wits signed Schillo (Steven Pienaar) we had the best signing of the season.
“We all know who Benni is. There isn’t enough words to describe Benni. He has achieved a lot internationally.
“He is someone that has a lot to share. We are lucky to be the first to benefit from that.
“All I can ask as captain is that he must be given a chance.
“Don’t compare him to Zinedine Zidane. Zidane is Zidane at Real Madrid and Benni is Benni at Cape Town City. Judge him at the end of the season.
He deserves an opportunity to show what he can do,” Manyama elaborated.
It is an open secret that Mamelodi Sundowns are chasing the signature of Manyama. Sundowns mentor Pitso Mosimane has already revealed his admiration for Manyama.
“It is huge honour to hear him saying that. He is currently the number one coach in Africa and Sundowns are the number one team in Africa.
“In football when you do well you will attract attention. I’m used to that. When I was doing well with Ajax, teams like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates came knocking.
“If it’s all speculation it is okay, it doesn’t bother me.
“Until a team comes to me, I will treat it as speculation,” Manyama explains.
Next season City will be campaigning in Africa. They attained the Caf Confederation Cup spot after finishing third in their madien PSL season.
“I’m looking foward to playing in Africa. Recently I was with the national team in Nigeria. I felt the atmosphere and that is the kind of stage you want to compete on.
“However, we must be very careful of how we approach the competition because it can be damaging in our league campaign. We have to find the way to manage it since we have a small squad but we are looking forward to the challenge,” Manyama concluded.