Easy come, easy go

SAT AND “I COULD HAVE MY TURN, WAITED FOR IMPATIENT. BUT I WAS LEAVE TO I OPTED TO FOOTBALL.” PLAY

With almost 15 years of playing professional football, Michael Morton isn’t the one for the limelight and he goes about doing his job quietly and with aplomb. It all started at Orlando Pirates, a club closest to his heart, for the midfield strongman, and he has never looked back while winning trophies along the way. But now with his club, Cape Town Spurs, fighting to avoid relegation, Morton is playing a big role in guiding the youngsters to remain focused on the task at hand until the end of the season. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina, Morton talks about what has kept him going all these years, why some talented footballers have fallen off the train along the way, and why Themba “Mshishi” Zwane is an example of what South African footballers are all about. The 35-year-old also talks about how the Promotional Play-Offs affected Spurs’ planning for the current season.

Masebe Qina: Mike, we see you are into content creation on social media these days, and in one of the videos you made recently you talk about your midfield battles with the former Kaizer Chiefs player Michael Nkambule back in the day. Can you tell us more about that?

Michael Morton: When I was in the Pirates development for seven years, he was with the Chiefs development. Multiple times during the season we would play in those league games against them. We would play those mini derbies and they were very competitive. Whenever I played against him, he was very good. He was a very talented player. I don’t know if it’s good or bad memories, but he gave me a lot of trouble man. Some of the other guys that I played with, who come to mind, are the likes of Thela Ngobeni (Thela) and Sandile Zuke. Zuke played in the middle of the park, and I had tough battles with him. Roger Majafa is another one and he was a little bit young. Mandla Masango is the player I played with in the (junior) national teams.

MQ: What was it like playing in the Pirates development?

MM:

Yeah, I mean it was very competitive man, and at that stage both academies were competing to see who was getting more players in the junior national teams. The competition was extremely high in those days. Playing in competitions like the Engen (Knockout Challenge) was always nice and it was always about who’s going to win, and it was all about the pride of Gauteng and stuff like that. It was great and I think that was incredible for my development.

MQ: Who are some of the players you played with in Pirates development?

MM:

The list is long man. The ones that come to mind are guys like Mduduzi Nyanda, who ended up at Platinum Stars. We actually played in the middle together before he played as a winger. At Yebo Yes, we had guys like Tshepiso Tshabalala, (Lindokuhle) “Lindo” Mkhwanazi, the late Senzo (Meyiwa), Excellent Walaza, (Tlou) Segolela and many others. (Mbongeni) “Shoes” Gumede who is at AmaZulu FC now was also there, although he was younger and (Kabelo) “Skipper” Mahlasela who is at Royal AM now. That generation produced a lot of very good footballers.

MQ: What was it like for you when you got promoted to the first team?

MM:

It was strange man as I was just training with the first team and Owen (da Gama) was the coach at the time. I hadn’t even signed the first team contract at that stage. Then when Ruud Krol joined the club to replace Owen, and I don’t think he even knew who was contracted and who wasn’t contracted. It worked out very well for me because he was starting on a complete clean slate, and he didn’t know that I was a youngster without a contract. We went to the Telkom Charity, and I thought there’s no way I’m playing here, I’m just a youngster without a contract. The next thing he said, “You are playing at right-back” and I was shocked. I quickly told my friends, “Hey, I’m actually playing here.” I had thought I was just coming along and the next thing I was playing, and it was incredible. One of my first games for Orlando Pirates was a Soweto Derby and I had to mark “Shabba” (Siphiwe Tshabalala) – one of the best left wingers in the country.

MQ: Baptism of fire right there! MM:

Obviously, academy football calendar doesn’t run like the PSL. I was in the middle of the season with the academy and when I got there, I was super fit. The Telkom Charity Cup was usually early during the pre-season, and I sort of hit the ground running and everyone was surprised at how fit I was. I played for about 60 minutes and made a good impression. I played about four games for Pirates’ first team and two of those were derbies which is crazy.

MQ: How was your time with the Buccaneers?

MM:

I was there for seven or eight years, and it was incredible. They pretty much turned me into the footballer that I am now. I have so much to be grateful for. I went there when I was a 11-year-old and graduated into a man eight years later. I worked with so many good coaches such as Johnny “Black Sunday” (Masegela), “Bashin” (Albert Mahlangu), Tebza (Tebogo Moloi), and obviously the Professor himself, Augusto Palacios. All those guys moulded me into the footballer that I am, and I’ve got so much to be grateful for. That was incredible for my development and obviously I played for the junior national teams, and they were responsible for a lot of that. It was incredible experience.

MQ: Weren’t you disappointed that you didn’t play much for the Pirates first team?

MM:

Yeah, I often tell people that I grew up supporting Orlando Pirates, and as they say, “Once a Pirate, always a Pirate.” Under Krol, Pirates were probably the dominant force in South African football. There were just so many good players ahead of me in the team at the time and I was 19 years old. Look, I could have sat and waited for my turn, but I was impatient.

I opted to leave to play football. That was probably the best thing for my career and at that stage there was no opportunity for me to play in the first team. There were just too many good footballers, and they were not losing games. It’s one thing to say, “I can play in this team”, but looking at how things were happening, they were dominating South African football. There was just no opportunity for me there and you can’t hold that against anybody when the team is winning games and dominating. It was for me to make a decision to move on to a smaller team where I would get an opportunity to play.

MQ: You have been a professional footballer for almost 15 years. How have you managed to keep going?

MM: It’s probably because of hard work and my work ethic. One of my strongest points is that I work very hard. I was never the most talented footballer or the most gifted footballer but what I did have in abundance was the desire and hard work. I’ve never fallen out of love with the game, and I still love playing football games and I like staying fit just in my personal capacity as well. When I’m not on the football field, I’m in a gym and I’ve always looked after my body well. What has also allowed me to have a longer career is the fact that I have never had any serious injuries. I’ve been lucky from that point of view, and I’ve always worried about my nutrition. I’ve also been fortunate with the coaches that I’ve played under and there are so many factors that have allowed me to play for so long.

MQ: Why do you think that some of the most gifted footballers struggle to have longer careers? MM: There’s always the stereotype on what happens to a lot of South African footballers, but I don’t think that’s always the case. I think it’s the minority that get affected like in the case of the likes of Jabu Pule (Mahlangu), (Masibusane) Zongo and those guys. There are talented guys who have had incredible careers like Themba Zwane and others. Those guys are the role models of what a true South African footballer should be. I think always in all facets of life we have one or two that fall off the train. I think sometimes with those guys, they had too much ability and football came almost too easy for them. For some of us, we had to work so hard to get to where we are. I don’t know what it is (thinks for a moment). It’s like that old saying, “easy come, easy go.” Obviously, we blow up these guys after one or two good seasons while we should be putting more emphasis on guys who have had long careers and the guys who have been good professionals. We fall in love with the guys that are a little bit more exciting. I think there are a lot of role models, the guys who have had long careers, and the ones who have done things the right way.

MQ: Moving on to club football, there seems to be improvement for Cape Town Spurs with the results after a disappointing start to the season. What’s made the difference?

MM: Ja, it’s pretty obvious for everyone to see that we have been struggling this season, especially at the beginning. I’m not making any excuses for how we started but the system of the (Promotional) Playoffs and everything does make it extremely difficult for the team that gets promoted through the playoffs. You have such a little time to prepare for the following season. You can’t plan ahead of time when it comes to buying players and things like that because you don’t know if you will be playing in the PSL or not. Your players don’t get any rest. I have been to Play-Offs two years in a row now. In the last three years, I probably have had just two weeks’ off. It’s hectic. I think Luvuyo Phewa has gone to three sets of Play-Offs, and if we go to the playoffs again this year, he will probably be the first player to play in the playoffs for four years in a row. It’s never ending, and you don’t get a break. But I feel like we have added more balance to our squad during the January transfer window. We’ve added some fresh blood to the squad and that has made the difference. The youngsters have stepped up massively over the last couple of games. They have given us a glimpse of hope which was much needed. We definitely have that light at the end of the tunnel now although it is a long journey still.

MQ: Mike, keep fighting, and good luck for the rest of the season.

MM: Thanks man.