His suffering must

THABANG MATUKA - UNATTACHED

Tshepang Mailwane: Coach, how have things been at Mamelodi Sundowns since making a return?

Rhulani Mokwena:

The return has been good. I’m back in familiar surroundings, I am back in an environment that I know pretty well and I’m working with people that I know quite well. If you speak of destiny and fate, you think certain things are pre-determined and possibly my return to Sundowns you could say was according to plan, because the timing was just right in a lot of aspects. I am just grateful to the president of the club (Patrice Motsepe) for bringing me back and bestowing on me, as well as the rest of the coaches and the technical team, this great honour of leading this great club.

TM: What did you gain from experiences at Orlando Pirates Chippa United?

RM:

the and

I would do everything the same, if given the opportunity. I think the time away from Sunbeneficial, downs was extremely in a sense that it allowed me to grow and to become not just a better coach, but a better person. I think I’ve learnt a lot about football. I’ve learnt a lot about the ecosystem that governs the game. I’ve improved a lot in relation to managing people and many other aspects of what it takes to be a head coach at a big club, with huge expectations. I could not have learnt what I learnt anywhere else. It was very important for my growth and for my apprenticeship to go to a place like that, because it allowed me to be a better coach and human being. I learnt a lot of lessons about life, about myself and managing not just people around me, but managing myself and managing my own career and my own profile as the leader. Because I know what I know, and I have gone through what I have gone through, I can say that as a coach, managing yourself is just as important as managing the people around you.

TM: What was life like in the beginning after Pitso Mosimane left? He’d been there throughout your time at the club.

RM: We had to adapt, because the new regime had begun. When you lose a leader and a mentor – more than just a coach… it was not easy. It was maybe even harder for me to say no to him, that I can go with him to Egypt. That was probably one of the hardest moments in my coaching career because I’ve always felt a strong alliance and bond (with Mosimane). But you’ve got to look at the fact that he made a decision to leave Sundowns and the only thing was for Sundowns to look for the best way to move forward and to support coach Pitso and wish him the best of luck. We watch on with pride and admiration for the job he is doing now with Al Ahly.

TM: When you look at the fact that he earned a bronze medal at the FIFA Club World Cup and won the CAF Champions League with the Egyptian giants, don’t you feel like you’re missing out?

RM:

I could have been there, but I am not there. And that’s the reality. I’m one person who is very in touch with reality. I’m very in touch with what is happening and what happens currently. I’m not a person who is too aloof. I try to be in touch with reality and I’m extremely sober in understanding that no one forced me to make the decision. I made the decision with a lot of soul-searching and a lot of praying and a lot of guidance-seeking from my parents and family. The reality is that I made the decision, and I knew that there would be those possibilities, but we are at a club that has great potential to work towards winning the Champions League and work towards being at the Club World Cup. Just because I was not there with Al Ahly and coach Pitso, it does not

Imagine you are a young South African coach and a call comes through from Africa’s reigning Team of the Century, with an offer to be their assistant coach. No prizes for guessing what many in that position would do, without an iota of hesitance, but one Rhulani Mokwena chose to forego the lure of the cushy but challenging job. Less than six months later, his North African suitors, Al Ahly, have a CAF Champions League title and a FIFA Club World Cup bronze medal to mean I don’t have to celebrate that great achievement of his. I also accept that, at the right time, we will also be presented with the same opportunity, if we continue to work hard and work towards the vision that the club and, in particular, the president and the board have set out for us. That’s the most important thing. I have been raised to celebrate other people’s achievements without personalising it, because that will never diminish from who I am. I will always celebrate others because I believe it’s the right thing to do in life.

TM: Do you see yourself coaching at the level where coach Mosimane is at the moment, or even in Europe, one day?

RM:

Of course. We all have burning ambitions to better ourselves and to grow. But the good thing is that a person like coach Pitso is forging the way. He is the trailblazer and he is continuing to embark upon a journey where there was once no path. He is creating a path for the rest of us and we’ve got to appreciate that. But in appreciating that, there comes a big responsibility in us to look to make it from the path he has created. His suffering must not be in vain. We’ve got to make sure that we continue from where he is going to leave off. There must be a reason he had to be the one who is forging ahead and picked the road less travelled. We’ve got to appreciate that and try to live up to his way of working and the sacrifices he has made. The ambition (to be there) does not necessarily mean you don’t appreciate and focus fully on the opportunity that has been presented to us in making Sundowns realise the objective and vision of being the best on the African continent. That, for me, is probably more exciting at the moment, where we’ve got that opportunity to sacrifice and invest in ensuring that we reach that objective and continue to do the best that we can to see that the club participates in the Club World Cup consistently and that the club is a key figure on the African continent with regards to the CAF Champions League. That’s the expectation because that’s where the club belongs. That, for me, is just as exciting, than being at any other big club on the African continent.

TM: You may have decided against going to Al Ahly, but you were given the big role to work as co-coach with coach Manqoba Mngqithi and lead the team into a new era. How has that been?

RM:

Leaders are never self-appointed. When you are put in a position of leadership, it’s because there are people who have more wisdom than you and these people, within their wisdom, deem it correct to ordain you with the responsibility of leadership. That responsibility of leadership creates a burden that you’ve got to live in a way that is no longer about yourself, but about serving the club and the people that you lead and to ensure that the people who trust you are never let down. Mamelodi Sundowns is a huge opportunity and it’s one where it can never be about me and I can never be in a position where I speak in first man terms. I can never use the word ‘me’ or ‘I’. We have the responsibility to lead as a team and try to do the best to achieve the objectives set out for us.

“I could not have learnt what I learnt anywhere else.”

TM: For those of us on the outside, give us an idea of what it’s like with you coaches, in terms of decision-making, picking the team, team talks and so on…

RM:

For us, it’s not important what the titles are. What’s important is the serving and, as a leader, serving is above you and leading is beyond you. You’ve always got to try to be a servant leader. The most successful modern-day leaders are the ones who put the people that they lead ahead of themselves. That’s a huge lesson you learn from some of the best coaches in the world who work in football, basketball and American football. When you read about them and read their interviews, it’s the leadership principle of human-centered leadership (that stands out). That moves very far away from

show for their exploits, with the man who made the recommendation to bring him on board, Pitso Mosimane, being pivotal in that success as head coach. Regret, however, according to Mokwena, is the most useless of emotions, and besides, his heart and mind are at Mamelodi Sundowns, whose dominance in Mzansi football is there for all and sundry to see, with the bigger picture being to ascend the same podiums that “Jingles” has roles, titles, portfolios, because the most important thing is making sure you are the best leader for the people you have been put out to lead. The most important part is the ‘we’. As a technical team, it’s important that we work together as a group and, at times, that means compromising certain ideologies and certain ideas that you may have because you believe what is best is best for the team and not necessarily for you as an individual.

TM: What does coach Steve Komphela bring to the table?

RM: He is someone who has extensive experience of working with players and a thorough background, having worked with different teams in the PSL. He brings the personality, experience and he brings the diversity of being able to speak multiple languages and giving a lot of advice, support. We are grateful to have someone like that to be able to bounce off ideas and get support from. He fulfills a very critical role in the technical team and his personality is one that brings so much positive energy, and we think coach Steve has got the right profile, be it from a technical perspective or a psychological perspective and be it from a tactical perspective and the knowhow of South African football. He brings so much to Mamelodi Sundowns and we are grateful to have a personality like him.

TM: Anything he brings in that you or coach Manqoba perhaps don’t possess?

RM: I can’t speak for coach Manqoba, but both coach Manqoba and been on with the Red Devils. In this wide-ranging conversation, Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane cornered the former Orlando Pirates assistant coach on the reasons behind his Al Ahly snub, as he also goes on to talk about working alongside coach Manqoba Mngqithi and coach Steve Komphela on the Downs bench. Sit back and enjoy the verbal gymnastics of one of the brightest young minds of the local game. the board and players have shown faith and confidence in believing that, while I am still serving my apprenticeship and still growing and improving myself by doing my UEFA badges, the club still sees it fit that I can be part of the leadership team. The reality is that they have a lot more experience, wisdom and better coaching aspects than I do. It’s incredible how more complete they are as coaches than I could ever be at this time in my coaching career.

TM: Downs usually start the season slow and only pick up steam later. Not so this season. What’s been the difference?

RM:

I don’t think it’s rocket science. In the last seasons, the biggest thing has been the Champions League. When the season starts, it would start in the middle of a Champions League campaign, but because of COVID-19 and the fact that the team took some time off to recharge during the pandemic, it allowed the team to be in a better shape for when the season started. Normally the team does not get much of an off-season. And, of course, I think the freshening up of the squad. We’ve got to really thank the club and board for the huge investment in the team and not just improving the depth, but the quality within the team and making sure that the team is stronger than it’s been in the last few years.

TM: New signings like Peter Shalulile, Kermit Erasmus and Mothobi Mvala have made an impact in their different ways.

RM:

They don’t only just bring quality, but the competitiveness and hunger to succeed. They are players who have big profiles. Mvala was Player of the Season at his club. He was the captain of his club (Highlands Park). Shalulile was top scorer at his previous club (Highlands). Erasmus came as a top scorer from his previous club (Cape Town City). Ricardo Goss came in as a goalkeeper who is a Bafana Bafana international. He was the number one at Bidvest Wits. Aubrey Modiba is a Bafana international and a (former) key member of SuperSport United. You can talk about Haashim Domingo and the younger ones who have come in, like Grant Margeman and Jody February. These are players who have very good profiles. They have guys like Themba Zwane, Hlompho Kekana to guide and assist them. It’s been a collective contribution because the senior players have allowed them to adapt to the environment and that again shows the quality of human beings we have at Sundowns. That’s what the Sundowns dressing room represents.

TM: How has the team managed to stay unbeaten, even with the many forced changes you’ve had to make due to injury, suspension and players being in isolation?

RM:

It’s the reflection of the quality and depth. We know that the gaps between the players are not big and the huge credit for that must go to the scouting and the recruitment system of the club, because to identify players that fit a certain way of playing, (with) regards to not just performance, but expectation from a psychological perspective, allows you to be able to continue to grow and improve. That’s important. We make training sessions to incorporate everybody within our game principles and that’s what we’ve done this season. We’ve adapted our way into creating what we call a tactical culture, rather than a game model because we know that we need everybody in the squad and COVID-19 has shown us this. Everybody in the squad is important, so they all need to know about the team principles. And our work is to obviously create strategies that relate to the opposition and, of course, strategies that relate to the profile of the players we have on the pitch.

TM: According to tranfermarkt. com, Sundowns has a squad of 38 players. How does the technical go about managing such a big squad?

RM:

The most important thing is that we recruit the right people into the team. We’ve got human beings who have the responsibility to carry out the leadership (duties) within the change room.

Most of the players who sit in the Sundowns change room are good human beings. It’s important that, in a modern-day and competitive environment, you have good people because good people put the team first. They sacrifice for the team and work towards a common vision. When you have that common vision, you then start to develop what we call team cultures. Part of the team culture at Sundowns is having humility. And humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking less about yourself. Sundowns players epitomise that. If you look at the squad, almost everybody has played a role. The most important thing is for everybody to feel important and feel that they are making a contribution to the success of the group. The only way players can feel that they are making a contribution is by playing. We live in a time where players know that they’ve got to be ready, they’ve got to train well and they’ve got to live well off the field because they don’t know when they’ll be given an opportunity to wear the jersey and stake a claim for it. The good thing is that all the players have shown that they have the capacity to represent Mamelodi Sundowns with aplomb and increase the level of competition in the squad. It’s a space that allows you to probably have a squad bigger than what you would normally have wanted to have.

TM: You started your CAF Champions League group stage campaign with a 2-0 win over Al Hilal.

RM: The most difficult part of this Champions League campaign will be the travelling and safety of the teams and the regulations set up by different countries and their governments in granting people entry into their countries so that the matches can take place. But protecting the lives of people is of paramount importance. The most important thing is to make sure that we participate by keeping safe and make sure that we keep our families safe. But, at the same time, we participate in a competitive way that allows us to meet the objectives set out by the club and fulfil the expectations our fans have for us. The Champions League is an important part of the vision of the club.

coach Steve have a lot of things that I don’t have. I don’t see myself as a finished product. Far from it. I’m just grateful that the president and

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking less about yourself.”

TM: Lastly, how do you think the title race will play out?

RM:

There’s no title that has been won in February or in March. There’s still a lot of games to go and a lot of points to play for. For us, it’s to continue to focus on ourselves, focus on the next match and improving not just the team, but the players. The most important thing as a coach is to improve the people who have the responsibility to give you the results. We know that we can still get better, we can play better and we can be more consistent. We believe we are on the right track and we will take it game by game.

TM: Thank you very much for your time, coach.

RM: Thank you, Tshepang.

Hola King Carlo! Hope you are well… Good to be here, my brother.

Let’s not waste any time and get into it. You probably know the drill by now. Well, go for it.

There are two crazy guys I played with at Bloemfontein Celtic – Lyle Lakay and Wayde Jooste. Lakay was the funniest. I remember the one time we were travelling, and you know how tiring sitting in the bus can be. So, I was sleeping and I thought everyone else in the bus was sleeping as well. But Lakay and Jooste were busy taking photos and videos of people sleeping. Have you ever had that feeling that someone is looking at you? I was sleeping, but I could feel that there was attention on me. And then all of a sudden, I could hear phones beeping and people were laughing. I was wondering why people were laughing. The picture was busy circulating in the WhatsApp group and everyone was laughing… even the coaches. Then Lakay said to me, “You must not sleep. Stop sleeping, my friend.” At that time, I was so tired and I was so angry, because he was even threatening to post it on social media.

You snooze, you lose!

He was like, “Just one button, then I will post it on social media.” From then on, I did not sleep in the bus. Even if we were playing in Limpopo, I would make sure I didn’t sleep or else my picture would be on social media. Or what I would sometimes do is wait for all of them to sleep first, then that’s only when I would sleep. Or maybe I would take a blanket and cover myself. Do you know that they would also do that in a plane? Those boys were naughty. They would even do that to normal passengers, people that they didn’t know from a bar of soap. They were naughty, but the good thing is that they brought that vibe in the team.

You’ve played with some crazy characters. Keep them coming.

In Spain (where Matuka played for CD Almunecar City), there is this guy, Brandon Gomez. He is from New York. He was crazy. He would just take someone’s boots and pour water in them. Imagine you are about to start training and then someone takes your boots and pours water in them. When it’s raining, it’s difficult to play with water in your boots, so imagine when someone just does that on a normal day. And at that time, you’ve only brought one pair of boots to training and then you can’t train after that, ha, ha, ha. You’d get angry, but there’s nothing you could do. Some of the other guys in the team would pour water on your bed. While you were in training, they would pour water on the bed. Imagine not being able to go and sleep because you are waiting for the bed to get dry. At the time, the people who clean are not there and you are stuck with wet bedding. That’s why I would take two or three extra sheets, because those guys were crazy.

So, they did it to you as well?

Ha, ha. Yes, they did it to me once. Do you know how I got them back? So, they don’t know how to swim. I took them to the beach and I said, “Let me teach you how to swim.” We went into the water and I went to the deep side and

said to one of the guys, “Let’s go together.” Then I left him there and he was screaming and then I said, “Yes, you will stop that thing of pouring water on my bed.” Imagine how scared he was in the ocean because a lot was going through his mind, like sharks and waves taking him deeper. I told him that he should stop it. Gomez was just someone who was full of jokes. I remember one time I used his boots in my first game because I had six studs and you cannot use six studs on astro turf. I came on as a substitute in the second half and I scored a nice goal that day.

His boots were a lucky charm for you, it seems.

Yes, they were. So, every game, he was like, “Hey baba, you need to wear these boots again because we need these goals, my man.”

Nice.

I remember this other time when I was at Maritzburg United and (Ernst) Middendorp was the coach. We were driving from the stadium to the hotel and it was tense in the bus because we had lost. So, I was on WhatsApp and someone sent me a joke that was so funny. I had my headsets on and I burst out in laughter because that joke was so funny. It was so quiet in the bus and then, when I looked around, I saw that the guys were all looking at me. The following day, at the team meeting, Middendorp said, “I don’t understand, some of you think that losing is a joke. On the bus, someone laughed like it’s a joke.”

Ha, ha… vintage Middendorp.

At that time, I knew that he was speaking about me because I was the one who had laughed. But I ended up raising it and said it was unfair because we lost that game on Saturday and our next game was going to be on a Wednesday. The turnaround time to the next game was very short, so we had to shift our minds to the next game. We didn’t like losing, but we had to get ourselves in the mood to face the next game. We should not be angry the whole time and, at that time, we were fighting relegation, so imagine. Then after that, we started making jokes at training and we had some teambuilding activities. They could see that we needed that in the team. We could not be serious all the time.

Masebe Qina: Ibrahimovic, what’s the latest regarding your supposed move to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC?

Lerato Manzini: That is now a closed chapter, my brother. I’m looking forward to the future and I’m no longer talking or thinking about that.

MQ: But what happened? LM:

I don’t want to divulge much about it. It’s going to set me back in my planning and I want to focus on the future. The more I talk about this thing… it’s boring me, to be honest. I don’t want to keep on talking about it, and as a result, I have already moved on with my life. There are people (clubs) who are already enquiring about my services and I just want to decide which one will be the best possible option for me.

MQ: We hear you and understand, but we are trying to help our readers and the fans out there understand what happened after the Soccer Laduma Siya crew reported that you could be joining TTM following your unexpected Cape Town Spurs departure. The readers will need to decide if the club was right or wrong in promising you a deal which didn’t materialise. Did you at least speak to the new boss, Dr Abram Sello, after things didn’t work out for you under the previous boss, Masala Mulaudzi?

LM: I’m not someone who likes to get people to feel pity for me. Whatever happened, whether bad or good, I’m positive and at least I’ve got my clearance in hand and free to move on. I’ve moved on from those people, man, and I can’t be the one calling people to ask (that they sign me). I mean, they were the ones who called me in the first place and wanted to sign me. I’m at peace with the former chairman and I understand that life goes on. Maybe the man is also going through a lot himself, you see what I mean?

MQ: Good way of dealing with it.

LM: At the end of the day, I was the one who went to Cape Town Spurs management and requested that I be handed my clearance so that I could join a PSL (topflight) club. I can’t put the blame on people for what happened. Maybe it was God’s plan, and maybe something good will come out of this and I’m looking forward to the future. Life is going on and not waiting for me to get done with my sorrows. All I want is to play football and whatever is in the past is history.

MQ: You say that there are people enquiring about your services. Are those DStv Premiership clubs? LM: Yes, at the moment we are talking to two DStv Premiership clubs, but what is going to be challenging is that the season is left with under three months to finish. I want to make a move to a club where I will be staying for long because I’m not a player who likes to change teams frequently. I’m at a stage in my career where I want to enjoy my football and I was telling my wife the other day that maybe the best possible thing for me to do for now is to continue in the GladAfrica Championship. I can do that to prepare for next season to join a PSL team. The most important thing I aimed for when I went to Cape Town was to get back into football after I spent a year without playing football. I went to Spurs to regain fitness and rediscover my form as I knew that things would happen for me. It was a nice career move for me, and it wasn’t like I was stranded. I had been out of the game for a year and I was unfit, and there was also the lockdown, which didn’t assist in my situation, and going to Spurs was the best option for me at the time.

MQ: Since parting ways with Chippa United in December 2019, you took almost a year to find a club when you were eventually signed by Spurs in October last year. Some people might say you should have been grateful and honoured your contract with them. Do you regret the decision to leave the club?

LM: No, my man, I don’t regret anything. I didn’t wake up and make the decision. I had been talking to those people (TTM) for three weeks and they were showing real interest. I remember them telling me that I would start games in their team. They said if I could get my clearance, I would start games and that’s when I thought they were serious, and I told them that I would speak to the management at Spurs.

MQ: What happened next? LM:

So, I spoke to Spurs management and explained my situation because, at the end of the day, I am 29 and I saw that as an opportunity to go and play at the highest level. It was the agreement I had with the club (Spurs) that I wanted to play in the PSL, and they will be forever in my heart for how they handled my situation. They will always be in my heart for how professional they were to me and how committed they were to me getting back into shape and fit and stuff like that. I needed a club that is professional and that is being run well and Spurs was a good space, which was what I needed at the time. That’s why I gave my all every time I was called to do the job and that’s why it wasn’t difficult for me to go and speak to the management. They understood that age was not on my side and it was a decision based on my career without having to question whether I’m loyal or not. I had to do what I felt was best for my career because football has got no ‘therefore’. I could have stayed and got injured to be out for three months. Football is a game of risks. Right now, I am fit and ready to play and I can play anywhere. That was a good decision for me (to leave for TTM), because at the end of the day, I decide my future and what I want for my career. I don’t live my life based on what people say.

MQ: Speaking about professionalism, which is something you say attracted you at Spurs, weren’t you skeptical about the negative stories coming out of TTM since the club’s arrival in the DStv Premiership, including the reports of unpaid players’ salaries?

LM: Actually, I was (worried). But based on the agreement we had… I was assured that I wouldn’t experience any problems at the club. No, man, I can’t divulge much about the agreement we had. But what I said to them (when they approached me) was that I was very worried about the things that have been coming from the media and that I didn’t want to associate with those kinds of things. I’m a football person and the only thing that makes me happy is to play football. In the end, I saw the move as an opportunity to go and score goals in the PSL. But, yes, I spoke to them about those things of unpaid players’ salaries and all those things. But those issues were not too much in my mind and all that I was looking forward to doing was to play and score goals for the team. I wasn’t going to say no about the opportunity that was being presented to me, because I don’t know what the future holds. But there is nothing more to say about that team and I have moved on and I just wish them everything of the best. But I would like them to try and deal with things better going forward.

MQ: What have you learnt about the whole TTM experience?

LM:

What I learnt is that as players we shouldn’t only focus on moving in those kind of situations, but we should also be mindful of where we are going and all the important factors involved, like who is going to coach you next and all those things. Are you going to improve where you are going? Those are the kind of questions to ask first. Sometimes we jump into opportunities not knowing whether our football is going to improve or decline where we’re going. Sometimes it’s about how you are coached that helps you to grow as a player. Are you someone who is coachable? Are you a player who can listen to instructions? What I learnt is that life goes on and I can’t be sitting down and feeling sorry for myself, there’s no time for that. I don’t regret anything, as long as I can still play football. I don’t feel bad because I know that it was my decision, and nobody forced me to make it. Sometimes you have to gamble and if it works, that’s good, and if it doesn’t work, you just have to move on.

“It was my decision, and nobody forced me to make it.”

MQ: Thank you so much for talking to us and we wish you everything of the best.

LM: Thank you, grootman (big brother). I accepted to talk to you because you are Soccer Laduma and that football people will rely on you to know what happened, otherwise I didn’t want to discuss this TTM issue as I have since moved on from it. I have been getting calls from a lot of people, and some of whom are not even football-related newspapers, and I declined to comment. Eish, ngikhathele yiyo (I’m tired of it), and I feel like I shouldn’t be dwelling on it anymore. I also didn’t want to talk bad about that chairman (Mulaudzi) and I hope that wherever he is, he has found peace that he has sold the club and sorted whatever problems he had. I’m not angry at him.

“I hope that wherever he is, he has found peace…”

On Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila’s improved results and form

In the first round of the season, we tried to do well in the first seven games and things looked promising, but in the last six or seven games of the first round, things were not good for the team. What helped us is that everyone stayed positive and we kept on going and kept working hard, even though it was tough. At the end of the day, we know that football is our life and that sometimes in football you face those types of situations. The results are starting to come for us, but we don’t have to get carried away. We have to keep on pushing and keep on doing the right things.

On the support from management under new boss

I want to thank the management for their support in trying to help us to do better so that we can only focus on our football. For now, I don’t want to complain because everything has been okay. The management are trying to play their role in the best way they can and the only thing that we can do is to concentrate more on the field of play and pick up the points as soon as possible and help the team to go up on the log. When things are like this, we also help the management to put more effort and for them not to panic. We just have to keep on getting the results as frequently as possible and that’s all. I don’t want to lie, everything is going well in the team and there are no issues, as you can see with the results. Sometimes you need motivation for you to focus and, for now, everything is proper and all we want is to focus more on our football. The management are doing their level best to make sure that everything is fine.

On working under Mathebula and Maleka

Working under those guys (David Mathebula and Mpho Maleka) is great and they have been motivating each and every player. They have been giving each and every player the support and advice. You must remember that the two guys played football at the highest level and they know how it is to be in most situations that we find ourselves in. We have been following their advices and everything with them has been going well. We just take each and every game as it comes, and we are looking forward to our next game.

On life at TTM since joining from SuperSport United

It’s been fine as I came here to look for game-time, because at SuperSport United, I trained for about two seasons without playing. It was a bit frustrating, but I managed to overcome that. As a player, you expect anything as there are times that you will not be playing and times when you will be playing. But what is important is that when you are playing, you just have to keep on pushing and not look down. It was a good experience at SuperSport because the team had three great goalkeepers, but only one could play at a time. It wasn’t about who was playing, and we supported each other in the goalkeeping department. The more we pushed each other, the more the team would do better. For any goalkeeper to do well, he needs the support of the other goalkeepers and for them to push him in training.

On keeping clean sheets in three matches in succession

It’s something that I have been looking forward to doing because keeping clean sheets is something great for any goalkeeper. When you are going into a match as a team, the score is always 0-0 and, by keeping a clean sheet, you are guaranteed to help your team to at least get a point. Keeping a clean sheet in three matches in a row is encouraging me to keep on working hard and I’m not going to get carried away. I want to keep more clean sheets as much as I can as that is also going to help the team to get the results going forward.

On being six points clear of the relegation zone

It is a great feeling and it was also our first time to win back-toback games and that’s something we have been looking forward to doing. It’s also going to help us going forward because we are also growing in confidence in every game. We are going for every point on offer so that we can keep on moving up the table. We are trying to be out of that zone completely and we want to be up there with the other teams and fight for something. Being on that side of the log table is very stressful. Having said that, we don’t have to relax and we have to do the right things and make sure that we keep on grinding and pick up more points because we don’t want to be in a situation where we will end up using the calculators and all of that as that can be stressful. We are just taking every game as it comes, and we will see how far we can go.

On coming up against Swallows in the Nedbank Cup

We are going to take the game as our normal game. Yes, they are unbeaten, but anything is possible in football. We are going to take this game as a normal game, and we will just have to keep on working hard and dig deep to make sure that we proceed to the quarter-finals. We are prepared for everything because we have to keep the momentum. For the past games, we have been doing well and we have to keep on doing well in the league and in the cup. We are not taking any game for granted. Every game is like a cup final for us until the season is finished. At the moment we are not even thinking about our next league game, which will be against Kaizer Chiefs. We are thinking only about Swallows because they are the team that we will be playing on Friday. For us, it’s better to focus on our next challenge and that is Swallows. We will focus on Chiefs after Friday’s match against Swallows.

This week we hear from Washington Arubi – Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC goalkeeper