Coaches I’ve worked with: Our paths always crossed

The way I got to know Trott Moloto is just something else because, at the time, I never thought he’d one day make such an impact on my life and career. I was still too young to think that far ahead when I first met him. I got to read about “Trapattoni” when he was still with Seshego Stonebreakers. This is a team that knocked Kaizer Chiefs out of a cup competition, back in the day, and that was a huge blow. I think it was a Last 32 of the Mainstay Cup or so. I then saw him at Moroka Swallows when I was playing for the team’s U14 side. We used to go to Dube station, where our seniors used to assemble, just to see the likes of Trott, Frederick “Congo” Malebane, Vader Mophosho and Joel “Ace” Mnini, just to mention a few. We admired these guys as we were the Swallows U14 team and part of the development structures. Fast-forward to when Trapa was an assistant coach to Screamer Tshabalala at Mamelodi Sundowns. Fortunately enough, when I was in high school he was a school teacher in Soweto. He was doubling up as a school team’s coach and I remember one Wednesday when we played them, he kept on yelling at his player, “Don’t allow him too much space. Whenever he gets the ball, your face must be on his face. Mark him tight!” This was an instruction against me, and I was like, “Wow! So, these guys have a plan against me.” Little did I know the very same man I admired as a footballer, now a teacher and assistant coach, would one day be an assistant coach to Philippe Troussier at Kaizer Chiefs later in our lives. Our paths always crossed and that created a bond that resulted in such a great relationship we’ve shared over the years. What a humble and respectful player, teacher, coach and father-figure Trapa has always been. He’s not your typical no-nonsense coach because he’s very calm about his discipline demands. When you talk Troussier, he came from Europe but coached in Ivory Coast before coming to our shores. His philosophy was a direct opposite to almost everything we knew. He changed everything and I must give credit to Trott, who was the one always ensuring that there was peace in the camp. He always carried a fire extinguisher, so to speak, to put out the fire and ensure that everyone was comfortable.

Personally, I got even closer to Trott and, at some stage, he took over the coaching reins. Now, can you imagine how it felt to be coached by someone whose career I had been following and so interested in? The worse part, this man played as a defender, so it is not even like I modelled my game on his as a midfielder, but there was just something that interested me about him. We then meet in the national team and I was overwhelmed to find out I was one of the players he selected for his team. The Trott I saw at Chiefs was a different person to the one I saw at Bafana and I’m not sure if that had to do with the different characters that he worked with and the environment. He had a clear plan and knew what he was doing, just like Screamer.