What ou r immediate goal is
On beating Swallows to end 19-game winless streak
The win against (Moroka) Swallows this past weekend was very important for the team. The players worked very hard for it and since I have arrived here at the beginning of the season, I have seen a lot of improvement and progress. They deserve it because it’s been frustrating playing all the past games without winning a single game. It can destroy you mentally. They showed how strong they are mentally in terms of keep on fighting and believing. Not conceding a goal was key because since I took over, we have not been able to keep a clean sheet. If you don’t concede, you always have an opportunity and more chances of winning the game, whereas if you concede, you always try to catch up with the opponent, which is what happened in other previous games. We conceded and then found ourselves in situations where we had to try and come back, which is always difficult. Against Swallows, I thought we defended very well as a team and kept a clean sheet. We knew that we were always going to get chances and luckily enough, with the chance that we created we managed to score, which was good. From now onwards, we need to try and improve and try to score more than one goal. The support from the management has been brilliant and the most important thing for us is to put that game behind us and focus on the future because consistency is key. We have good work ethics, we work well as a team and even players who come on from the bench put in a lot of effort and, for me, that is key. The team effort from every member of the team, they gave their all, especially playing away from home in Johannesburg against a team like Swallows. Swallows had a very good start and we were not going to beat them if we didn’t fight and, for me, that is very key.
On their stru ggles for the most part this season
In the previous games, we lost by small margins and those matches were decided by luck, but as a coach, I also understand that in football you have to create your own luck. In terms of us creating chances, we lacked a little bit of composure, which we need to try and improve, especially in and around the box. Sometimes those things can happen due to not winning games and players need to be more calmer and play their normal game without being put under pressure. I think we have been doing that very well and we need to improve a little bit more on that. The first win was always coming, it was a matter of time before it happened because I could see that the attitude of the team was good. It has always been the same since I started and I was quite happy about that. But there are a few areas that we want to improve and there are a few players who have been working on their fitness, like Letsie Koapeng who had a back problem. He is just coming back to full fitness and that is the reason why he has not been playing much. I know that the transfer window will be closing on Friday, but our focus is more on the players that we currently have. We need a committed team, that is very important, and to have a little bit more competition amongst ourselves and have a team that has the right mentality and right attitude – that’s very key for me.
On lessons learnt from past coaching experience
From an individual point of view, I’ve always been someone who is very quick to adapt to different situations – that has always been my strength. I remember when I took over at SuperSport United, it was a team with star players, but things changed when a lot of those players had to leave and we had younger players. In that moment, I had to adapt, and I still managed to reach a Cup final (2019 MTN8 final). Coming to Richards Bay FC, those are different situations and different environments. In every situation you are faced with, you must try and improve the players that you have. At the moment, the goal is to move Richards Bay away from where we are as far as the log table is concerned. We have to take it one game at a time and then we can evaluate from there. But the immediate goal is to move us away from where we are and then get the team into the Top Eight. That will be an achievement and something that can be achieved. We need to win more games so that we can gain confidence. We are instilling that with the players so that they can have more belief in themselves. If you look at our fixtures, we played the first two games in a space of three days and went for another two weeks without playing. We played another two games again, we went for another 10 days without playing. We are in the same situation right now – we played on Friday against Swallows and then Tuesday against Chippa United and the next match after that is against TS Galaxy on the 1st of October, which is another 10 days. Obviously, this will disrupt your rhythm depending on your situation. If you lose a game, you need time to work on correcting your mistakes, but if you win, you want to continue and play again because it’s important to have that consistency. It’s difficult, but we have to work around it because it’s always been challenging. The best way to deal with this is by playing friendly matches to keep the players busy and fit, and that is what we have been doing. It also allows us to work more on players individually.
Message to the fans
I want to urge our supporters to continue supporting the team like they have been doing. They have been behind the team. The players are working hard to turn things around and try to make them happy.
I know this is going to sound odd to some people. There’s this friend who is also a father-figure to me that I want to talk about. That is Augusto Palacios! You know, Gusto came into my life like a sniper! I didn’t see it coming at all and, before I knew it, there was this important person in my life on and off the field. To this day, this man is forever appreciative of my efforts and always checks up on me regularly. He told me, the other day, “When I coached you both at Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana, you never disrespected me. You have always been more than just a footballer to me. You’ve become a family friend.” He said that because for years now, I have been going to his house and his wife will cook scrumptious meals for us and I was accepted as one of the family members in the Palacios household. I know I am always welcome there and I appreciate all of them for that. Gusto can take off his coaching cap and put on a friend’s in no time. When he talks to his players, he goes beyond the game and wants to know about your social life, your family, future plans and everything that a father would be interested in. He always shares advice and guidance. I cherish every moment I have shared with you and your family, Gusto. You looked after my career and life in general, always there when I needed you. I always appreciate all the messages you send me for all the holidays and anniversaries. I’m very blessed to have a friend like you and I don’t take it for granted. Thank you, so much, Gusto! I know this will come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I found a friend and a father-figure in you.