I didn’t expect them to do that

THE TRAIN SUNDOWNS “AT WHETHER YOU MOVES IF YOU IT OR NOT. AND LIKE TODAY, DON’T PERFORM SOMEONE ELSE TOMORROW POSITION.” TAKES YOUR

It still baffles logic how a player can win the Defender of the Season award one day and be deemed surplus to requirements the next. But such is the life of a footballer, one that Lyle Lakay knows too well. It is for that reason

that the 32-yearold holds no grudges against his former employers, Mamelodi Sundowns, who released him at the end of the 2021/22 season. Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver sat down with the left back to talk about his time with the Brazilians, his regrets and why he has taken it upon himself to be a guide to Matsatsantsa’s up and coming youngsters.

Delmain Faver: Lyle, you’ve had three clubs in two seasons. How’s that been for you? Does that mean you don’t mind moving around, or is it a bit of an inconvenience for your family who move with you?

Lyle Lakay: To be honest, I spoke about it before, and I’ll speak about it again. The move to Cape Town City caught us by surprise. There are things that happened, which I don’t really want to go into. What influenced it was obviously Cape Town. I’m from Cape Town and I have a house there. My wife didn’t really take it well because she didn’t want to move. It’s understandable. Me too because obviously I came off a season where we won a treble and I won the Defender of the Season. It came as a shock and I didn’t want it,bu t at the end of the day I had to look at certain things. Also, I came from Cape Town City, I know the culture, I know the club and I know the o wner. I had a good relationship with coach Eric (Tinkler) Even after playing there with coach Eric, I have a good relationship with most of them. Going back to Cape Town wasn’t difficult, but the decision wasn’t easy either. Moving there was easier because we just took a few of our clothes and we went down with my daughnd ter a wife. Yeah, like I said, it was okay because in Cape Town we got a house, and my son was also there. And then coming to SuperSport (United), also another thing is I knew the club, I was here beso fore, it wasn’t a difdecision. ficult What motivated the decialso sion is coach Gavin (Hunt). He spoke to me, he’s the one who gave me my debut in the PSL, and SuperSport was competing in CAF at the beginning of the season, that also contributed tom y decision. I have to consider my a ge but I’m not someone that will run away from competition. I believe if I put in the work I will eventually get to play. I’ve done that all the years I’ve competed, I’ve worked hard, and I mean it speaks for itself.

DF: At Sundowns you won the Defender of the Season, Andile Jali won Midfielder of the Season and the following season you left. There are so many examples…

LL: The funny thing is, the season before that, they actually extended myc ontract. So that explains why it was a shock, at Sundowns the train moves whether you like it or not. And if you don’t perform today, tomorrow someone else takes your position, you go to the back of the line and the situation at Sundowns, there’s three, four players in one position. And for me, like I spoke to coach Rhulani (Mokwena) afterwards when I came back from Cape Town City, he gave me the reasons and I respect that because obviously he’s the coach, it’s his decisions. Even if it came from on top atthe end of the day it’s their decision. The ball is in their court, I just have to respect it. Having said that, I was disappointed because of the way it happened. But in order for me to move on, I had to make peace with i t. I think for the last three or four seasons, I’ve always set myself a target of (reaching) double figures for both goals and assists. Andl ast year was the first year

in three years, if I remember correctly, where I didn’t reach it. I had two assists. This year I have eight goals and eight assists. If I didn’t make peace with it, who said I would have been here today, you understand? Maybe I would have still dwelled on that, and it would have affected my performance, but look where we are today, and there’s still, what, eight games left. I can still get to that, which will be good for me.

DF: It would have been easy for you to stay and collect a big salary while not playing. Other guys are saying: ’Salary aside, we want to play football’. Which side ofthefencedoyousiton? LL: I could have also done that.

Like I said, I still had a contract with Sundowns when I left and I was raining with the guys who were obviously not in the plans. We were ac

tually training with M-Tigers, I didn’t like it, but if we’re being honest, it happens everywhere. I didn’t like that because obviously I was loyal to the club, I didn’t expect them to do that, but at the end of the day, I’m not the first one and it happened before, and it happens all over. I could have gone there, train every day, say: ‘I’m going to collect my money for the next two or three years’. But I didn’t like it – I want to play. Obviously, the deal didn’t happen at the beginning of the season. The season had already started when I came in. I sat at home on weekends, watching people on TV and saying: ‘I’m not even playing, I’m busy watching, I could be playing’. That was one of the reasons. And obviously, I don’t want to end my career where I’m going out, I’m not playing. And my kids are watching me on TV asking: ‘Daddy why you’re not playing anymore?’ And I said no it’s because of so and so and so, you understand? My daughter turned three on the 23rd of February and my boy turned 10 on the 2nd. He also plays. It’s actually funny because he stays with his mother. He is from my previous relationship. I call him regularly and we speak about football because he started playing. He could even see that for the last three or four games, I scored and assisted. I think it was for three or four games in a row. He could even tell me when I phoned him: ‘I saw the highlights on YouTube, or I heard on the radio’. So, obviously he’s watching. And my daughter also sits with her mother at every game. She watches, she can tell me. I think there was the Cape Town City game. My mother even took a video where I gave the assist for Shandre (Campbell), and she said: ‘Daddy, you gave the goal to Shandre’. That’s also part of the reason and they motivate me. So, imagine, if I’m going to training just to take my salary and here my kids are looking at me like: ‘Why are you not playing?’ DF: What do you think was the problem?

LL: To be honest, I said I didn’t want to talk about it but I don’t know. The club has their reasons. When I came back from Cape Town City, coach Rhulani spoke to me and said: ‘I decided I’m not going to keep you’ because obviously others were also younger than me. It was myself, Aubrey [Modiba], Divine Lunga, Sifiso Ngobeni, Terence [Mashego] was also there. I mean, we were probably five, yeah, five or six in the same position. I was the oldest, he had his reasons. Even though I felt I could still compete, I showed it. So, yeah, it was his decision and I respect that. But, having said that, I enjoyed my time there. I won everything in the country. Even though I would have wanted to win the CAF [Champions League], but I didn’t get there – the furthest we got was the semifinals. But I won everything, so I enjoyed my time, it was great, and I had to move on.

DF: After you left Sundowns, you went back to your former clubs. Did that play in your favour?

LL: I think so. I think it comes down to that and the relationship that I have, not only with the club but with coach Gavin, and with Cape Town City. What I’ve learned from players that I’ve played with helped me a lot. I can mention players that helped me like Daine [Klate], [Ricardo] Katza, Shane [Poggenpoel], Morgan [Gould], all of them. The way they caried themselves, the stuff that they did. If you stepped out of line, they were going to hammer you. I remember this one incident that stuck with me. We were playing against Sundowns and we were leading 1-0 and Dipsy [Selolwane] scored, and I gave the assist. I think the last five minutes, Sundowns scored two. I did the interview and they asked me about the game, and I mentioned that (we lost because), the guys got tired. I said mentally tired. The next day, at training coach Gavin asked me: ‘How the f*#k can you say on live TV that the guys got tired?’ But obviously I meant mentally, I didn’t mean physically. Gavin made us run that day and then Shane came to me and asked: ‘Hoe kan jy soe k*k praat? (How can you speak such rubbish?) Look at how we’re running now’. But I mean, stuff like that, the senior players will put you in your place if you’re out of line. I’m not a youngest anymore, I’m a senior and I can help youngsters like especially Shandre Campbell. The same thing Coach Gavin did with me, putting me in the same room with Daine when I came to the first team, obviously it would rub off on them. I try to do the same with him because, I’m on the other side now age wise. And it also comes down to the person that I am. People have done that for me, I also want to do it for the up and coming youngsters, and hopefully they can also do it to the next [generation] because as youngsters you need the guidance, you need the help at the end of the day.