I am not a coward

The last few months have been a rollercoaster for Steve Komphela, who left Moroka Swallows under a dark cloud following issues of money involving the players at the club. After parting ways with the Dube Birds, the experienced coach made a return to Golden Arrows in KZN, making a good start after the club had suffered nine consecutive defeats under then coach Mabhuti Khenyeza. Komphela’s positive start at Arrows, however, ended in a 7-1 hammering at the hands of Orlando Pirates. But, in this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane, Komphela explains why he was not too emotional about the result. The former Kaizer Chiefs coach also talks about what he said to his players after the match, while later addressing concern over the treatment of players at Swallows.

Tshepang Mailwane: Hello coach Steve, thanks for making time to be with us. Just a few days ago, you suffered a 7-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium. Was this the heaviest defeat you have suffered in your coaching career?

Steve Komphela: Yes, I think so. It’s the first time.

TM: What did you make of the result?

SK: I have been thinking about this…maybe there is something wrong with how I am wired. Maybe I have to look at myself and say: ‘How am I wired?’ And I have to be extremely careful that I do not come across as someone who is completely detached to emotions. (But) I don’t suffer emotional outbursts. I am very stable, it’s crazy. Sometimes your strength could be your greatest weakness, but I am chilled. I am calm, I am fearless, and I don’t get worried about stuff that is humanly and that has put me at a place where there is risk. If you don’t fear what humans fear, then you will not be consumed by what consumes humans. But I am not a coward.

TM: Sure…

SK: I completely looked at the match. It’s like a thermostat and a thermometer. If you are a thermostat, you determine temperature. If you are a thermometer, you measure temperature. My temperature is not determined by what is happening around me. I am not a thermometer. I literally stayed in a sober zone, and I looked at what happened. Sober as I had to be, like any professional, there were a lot of positives that I picked up and there are also a lot of negatives that I picked up. The biggest challenge with South African post-match interviews is that they catch you whilst you are hot. They catch you while you are still angry. Immediately when a match is over in South Africa, they call for Man of the Match. After the Man of the Match, then it’s the coach, depending on whether he is the host or visiting coach. Then you are in the frying pan. When you get to the frying pan whilst you are still hot, you are going to spill beans and potatoes and those stay with you forever. The heart does feel, but I tend to do more consultation with the mind. The questions must be directed to the mind and not the heart. Football is an emotive game. So, to be highly attached to the mind during highly emotional moments gives you an edge with regards to clarity in seeing things. After having a conversation with Mandla (Ncikazi) and Jose (Riveiro), it was clear that both of them acknowledged that the performance (of Arrows) was good. The only thing is that the scoreboard was ruthless. I don’t know how many chances we had before Orlando Pirates even scored. Easily that match could have been 3-3 at half-time.

TM: Which would have been a different story…

SK: Different story. Go on in the second half and we had chances, but on the night, Orlando Pirates was just clinical, and compliment must be given to them. I was killed by (Tshegofatso) Mabasa. I brought Mabasa from Bloemfontein Celtic development and worked with him at Celtic. I dragged him to Swallows. When I left, he went back to Pirates. We regret the high score, but when I listened to Riveiro and heard him say: ‘We (Arrows) did not go to Orlando Stadium and park the bus.’ We went there to play, and we played. Did we create chances? Yes, we did create chances. There is a very thin line between bravery and stupidity. We were brave on the night. We were fearless and we played football the way we know, the right way. We could have gone to Orlando Stadium and put a bus and a train and all of that. We want to be brave. We want to play football the way Arrows knows how to play football. Arrows is an offensive team. The players we have are not the type of players we will put there to resist 90 minutes and then suffer a setback in the 93rd minute, just before the end of the match. It’s still the same outcome. Make it a spectacle. Go at them. How nice it would have been if we [had] scored the chances we had. People would be talking about a different ball game with regards to that game. My only regret is the score board. For us, we only know one way to play football; the right way.

TM: What would you suggest the PSL should do with post-match interviews for coaches, based on what you mentioned about them being done immediately after the game?

SK: In television, you either make them (the viewers) laugh or cry. That’s television. Production is like that. You can imagine that a cold production does not ignite… the viewer at home must either be sad or happy. But it compromises the candidates who must do submissions because some of us go there hot-blooded and we start sounding stupid, illogical, irrational and we just lie. When you come back home, you feel that, ‘What I said is completely contrary to what I experienced.’ If I had gone to the screen when Phumlani (Msibi) put a mic under my nose and started saying how I felt based on the scoreboard, I would have lied and actually thrown the Arrows players under the bus. But I said: ‘No Steve, don’t talk to your heart, talk to the game.’ In the press conference, the first thing I did was to bring in stats with regards to the game.

TM: Looking at your response to the result, what did you say to your players afterwards?

SK: We had the same scenario against SuperSport United. We coach. We are not emotional wrecks. Anyone who bangs the tactical boards and kicks the bottles and all that…they are threatened by logic and sense and rationale. You have to knock sense into the players and make them understand where it went wrong, why it went wrong and how it can go right. However, I break boards and everything when there is an element of disrespect or lack of acknowledgement of input from any other person, whether a player or staff member. I hate disrespect. You can never be disrespectful in our team, but you are free to make any mistakes for the sake of progress. If the attitude is not right, we kick buckets. But when the attitude is right and things are not working well, then we go back to logic.

TM: Why did you rejoin Arrows?

SK: I left Swallows under the circumstances that are known to everyone. I had been home since December. It had gone three months without doing anything. We are sports people, and this thing is like a disease. The minute you are in sports, you can’t stop. It’s more like a drug. Also, I have a great relationship with Sis Mato (Madlala). I had to come across and be part of this beautiful environment.

TM: You got to Moroka Swallows when the club had announced that Musa Nyatama would be head coach. You got to Arrows when Mabhuti Khenyeza was at the helm. When you go into an environment where you take over from someone who was in charge and is then demoted, how does that feel and how do you work together and still have respect for one another?

SK: One guy sent me a message and said: ‘Wherever you go, is it possible to try to bring in your own people and work with your own people?’ First of all, it’s impractical in South Africa. We are not in that environment. Even abroad, it becomes extremely difficult because can you imagine you have to bring in your team of six to eight people to work with and the budgets are crazy. From that point of view, it’s got a whole lot of other challenges. But then my take on it is that don’t feel threatened by people. When you don’t feel threatened by people, you are not threatening them. Only those who feel threatened, threaten others. People who threaten others are people with insecurities. What you then do when you reach an environment is accept the invitation. You come in and the club will explain that they have these people. Clubs need their own solidity because Steve Komphela can come to the club and then things don’t work well. Then Steve Komphela leaves with all his people. You leave the team empty, with nothing. One thing that I have picked up is that clubs will always have their own people, either at senior or junior level. If and when there is a change, then there has to be a transition. There has to be a group that is brought in to stabilize whilst working on the next possible solution. In all honesty, it’s only logical.

TM: Makes sense…

SK: I go in and get information from these colleagues of mine. You treat them with respect. As you go in, you need to be clear that you are

not only doing this because it is a job. You have to do it as a project and part to the project is to see to it that the institution gets better and develops. It’s not about you picking up your paycheck every month and going home. The biggest mistake that coaches make is to assume the responsibility as a job. It should not be a job. It is more of a project. You need to make it a point that you leave a legacy. The institution must grow. This is where you as a leader must develop other leaders, so that when you leave, they can then continue to lead. And I’ve been in such environments. Go ask Musa Bilankulu and Mabhuti Khenyeza. I say it in their presence that ‘let’s work together in a way that if and when anything happens, you guys should wake up the next day and continue as if nothing has happened’. It is the responsibility of human beings to develop others. The sad part is then history starts to judge us in our graves to say ‘what legacy did this guy leave?’ The beauty of life is when you see a lot of people that you worked with have become coaches. Duncan Lechesa is an example. He worked with me at Free State Stars and he became a coach. It’s no different with Paulus Masehe. (There is) Siyabonga Mdluli, James Madidilane, Tshepo Motsoeneng, Thato Maleka, David Mathebula, Mpho Maleka, Masilo Modubi, Walter Khumalo, Kurt Lentjies, Daine Klate, Vincent Kobola, Noah Chivuta, (Reneilwe) ‘Yeye’ Letsholonyane. The list is endless. That is what you are here for in life, my friend. I am 55 now and nobody knows…in no time I could die. What seed did I plant? What did I leave behind?

TM: Keep going…

SK: Okay, let me put it this way because this is what South Africans, and shallow minded and selfish human beings see. You want me to win the MTN8 and then after winning the MTN8, I am done, chapter closed. They will sing that praise until I die, but when you look, what else did I do? F*#k-all. You know the MTN8? You play four matches; you have a medal on the wall and a trophy. That’s visible success. Then you are a hero. Please man. Visible success is easy to achieve. You can. Just get resources, support, and all that. Win trophies, but what I have picked up even with people who have succeeded and put trophies and medals is that they still remain empty as long as they have not developed others. If you can go to Pep Guardiola and (Jose) Mourinho) …they outgrew the visible success. They are now at a level of people’s development. Trophies and medals are important…I have them, but I don’t talk about them. They are objects that are shining there, but there is nothing as beautiful as touching the soul of a human being. To me, that’s the ultimate prize. The medals I have, whether it’s a Carling Cup and the ones at (Mamelodi) Sundowns, you will see none hanging on the wall. I swear to you Tshepang, go to my house and you will see a picture of friends of mine.

TM: So, you don’t have them hanging up anywhere in the house?

SK: It’s nice to have them, but who are you talking to? Whose life are you changing? There is visible and invisible

success, my friend. The value is in humanity. I don’t only want players to be powerful physical beings. I want players to be powerful mental beings and also be powerful spiritual beings. That’s how I work when I work with players. For me, sport is a vehicle for people development. The UEFA badge on the sleeve has the word ‘respect’ on it. We just read that, and we don’t care and let it go. That’s deep. When you go to the Fifa and the referees’ badges…it’s got Fair Play. For many, it’s just a badge on the chest of a referee. That is big, my friend. So, I will highlight those. Those are core human values. We need to develop players to have a greater sense of dependability.

TM: Would you say that’s something you did with Andile Jali because it seems you two have a strong relationship?

SK: I strongly believe in this; youdon’tcrosspathswithany human soul without intentions of having an effect in their life, and the same goes with you. You don’t come across a person and they don’t have an impact or effect in your life. I don’t know how this happened with AJ, but it just happened. It’s because I put everybody at their level, with regards to respect. AJ hates disrespect. AJ does not care who you are. If you lack respect, you will get disrespect from him. And not in a bad way, but he reciprocates. Not that I was kid-gloving him and all that. Just upfront, speak the truth and he knows when it’s not on, it’s not on. I am just honest, that’s me. Maybe those are the kind of people he clicks with, people who say things as they are. I don’t hide things. I have no agenda. I don’t have to lie to people. Why should I lie? Liars are cheap people. If you lie, you are a disgrace. No man should lie. What are you scared of? Say things as they are. Don’t deceive people. There are many of us who pretend to be what we are not.

TM: Looking at how quickly things ended at Swallows, how did that feel because surely you wanted to build something there?

SK: Whether I am here or not, I have to leave the institution better than I found it. There are coaches who come to a club and leave the club in the dustbin. There are many examples. If I left a club and left it in the dustbin, please point at it and say: ‘Steve when you left this club, you left it in the dustbin’. That’s not how I wish to work. Even beyond me, as I leave, that team must be sustainable because I assume the responsibility of a project and not a job. In all honesty, I can look but I don’t want to do that. I have worked in environments where after leaving, that environment thrived and developed, and you can look back and see a whole lot of seeds that were planted. Unfortunately, with the events at Swallows, I had never seen that in my life. I went there at a request of the Swallows president (David Mogashoa), and it made perfect sense. At some point, that team was number four on the log, playing good football. You could see what was happening, but things beyond my control happened.

TM: By the time you left, what was your relationship like with the Swallows chairman?

SK: I don’t upset people in leadership positions. I speak to them. I always make it a point that I explain myself and I try to understand their thinking. I never had any problems with the president. It’s just a pity that people who are given the responsibility at Swallows do their own thing. They are just destroying that wonderful brand. Unfortunately, Elasto (Kapowezha Lugu) is the one destroying that team. But the protection he enjoys cannot then be my responsibility. I am just there to do my job.

TM: How much do you feel for those players and what they went through?

SK: I can’t even explain. I can’t explain. It’s inhumane.

TM: It’s that bad?

SK: It’s inhumane. I can’t explain it. It’s sad. Human beings should never be treated like that.

TM: Thank you so much for your time, coach Steve. Good luck for the rest of the season.

SK: Thank you, Tshepang.