Coaches I’ve worked with: I don’t recall him being loud

I want to talk about this humble individual who has done so much for South African football, Patrick Mabedi. The former Malawian international defender was my teammate, and I went on to coach him, both at Kaizer Chiefs. He’s one of the humblest individuals I have ever met. This man mainly speaks when spoken to. You’d think he is not around because he hardly says anything. He’s not your loud person who makes his presence felt through his words, he’s more about action rather than talking. When you look at his character, he’s so humble, professional, and always delivers at his best. When he joined us at Chiefs, I will be the first to admit, looking at the position he was playing, I didn’t have much confidence in him. Central defence demands vocal leaders who will be able to marshal their troops all the time and that’s not what Patrick is all about. That position needs aggressive people who will have to protect their goals from physical and speedy strikers. I didn’t see Patrick ticking any of those boxes but, to my surprise, his inside was completely different to what you saw on the outside. You see a humble and soft-spoken human being who is always clean and never argues with anyone. I don’t recall him being loud or arguing with anyone, including opposition, but the soldier that is inside that man is unbelievable! He’s one of the bravest guys you will ever come across. It humbles me to see how much he has grown from being a footballer to being a coach. To think that this is someone I even coached, makes me happy. He was a humble footballer, and he continues to be a humble coach, entrusted with the responsibility of leading his country’s national team. Based on his performances so far, I believe he has grown in leaps and bounds because he surely has learned to mix his character with being a bit louder and aggressive in his coaching. I believe he is combining the two very well and I was so happy to see him coaching his national team in the COSAFA Cup. He took a team without any big-name players and got them to perform so well for their country. If I were to take you back to our playing days, if Patrick wanted to give you a message, he would run close to you and whisper into your ear. You’d hardly hear him shouting a message to a teammate and that’s just how he was. This man is really humble, too humble for the position he was playing but he proved to be more that what I saw in him. These are the kinds of leaders who never dwell on negativity, they never show aggression, but they will always get the job done and you will know exactly what they expect from you. Patrick didn’t get the armband just because he was an international defender. No, he earned everything he got because, like I said, he was more than just what you saw. His leadership skills were out of this world, and he had such a positive impact on the players. Once he was settled, you could easily see the growth in his game, and he started being a little bit more vocal. He was never aggressive, but his message was always clear enough. Whenever the going got tough, he would be the first one to assemble his troops and give words of wisdom. One of his favourite lines was, “Come on gents, let’s do this for our supporters!” and you could tell that he was growing with the brand that is Kaizer Chiefs and gelling well with everyone in the family. He was more than just a footballer and that’s why I wasn’t even surprised when the club called him in to assist Steve Komphela. His coaching wings started spreading from there on and he’s never looked back from there on. This man didn’t jump any steps in his growth, he covered his bases and I’m not surprised to see him where he is today. I had the privilege of playing alongside the late Jack Chamangwana, who was also from Malawi and Patrick proved to be like his countryman, same as the likes of Cedric Nakhumwa, Lovemore Chafunya, Ernest Mtawali, John Maduka, and many other Malawian footballers. There’s just something about these guys’ character and humility. They are all very humble and down-toearth.