I probably would have said no

Lehlohonolo Seema has been doing well at Sekhukhune United after he surprisingly left Polokwane City earlier this season. The mentor was doing well with Rise and Shine, with the team sixth on the log from four wins and five draws in their opening 12 matches when he suddenly exited the Limpopo club. Following his noticeable progress at Sekhukhune, the mentor was recently named as the DStv Premiership Coach of the Month along with the team’s captain Linda Mntambo who walked away with the Player of the Month accolade for February/March. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina, Seema takes us inside the Babina Noko camp as he talks about how he has managed to hit the ground running at the club. The experience of campaigning in the CAF Confederation Cup, his mandate at the ambitious outfit, as well as how losing both his parents affected him and his family are some of the topics the former Lesotho international is talking openly about in this

interview.

Masebe Qina: Coach, congratulations on winning the Coach of the Month award and it is well deserved. What does it feel like to be the recipient of such a prestigious accolade?

Lehlohonolo Seema: Firstly, thank you to the club for giving me the opportunity of leading the team as their coach. It feels good to be the recipient of this award although, I must say that it’s an award, I think I don’t deserve it alone. We’ve got a group of hard-working people in our technical team in the likes of coach (MacDonald) Makhubedu and everyone else in our technical team who are doing well in their respective roles. It is always nice to be in such an environment, and to work with people like that. The players have been fantastic, and they have done very well so far. It’s a good feeling.

MQ: The team captain, Linda ‘Figo’ Mntambo, walked away with the Player of the Month award. How important is he to the team?

LS: Look, Figo is a very important member of the team like the rest of his teammates. Here at Sekhukhune United we don’t have stars, and everybody knows that. In this team, we have players who work hard for each other, and not the stars. Yeah, Figo knows that he is a very important member of the team, and he is one guy who is working hard, and having a player like him is always good. His leadership qualities are very good for the team. He is a good motivator, and he can lift the team and make the dressing room buzz. When he has to work, he does just that, and therefore it is very important to have him in the team. He is one of us – one from many good players that we have in the team. He is someone who doesn’t isolate himself and he is a team player. For him to bounce back in the way he did, after he suffered a serious injury, that can only tell you about his character. It can only tell you about the kind of person that he is, and thanks to the support he got from the club, his family and friends that he managed to bounce back. Huge congratulations to him.

MQ: What did you do to hit the ground running at Babina Noko?

LS: I think what helped me to settle in immediately was having a very good support from the management. Also, the technical team that I have, as well as the players – everyone has been good and easy to work with. I’m just here as the leader to make sure that we are heading in the right direction, otherwise everyone is good to work with and all of us know our roles. When I arrived at the club, I told myself that I was not going to sign any new players and I decided that I would work with the players that were already here. I didn’t come here and start saying that things would be done my way. No, I listen to others, and we help each other in the way we want Sekhukhune to play and trying to make this team a formidable team. And another thing that I think is working for me is that I believe in the process. We all do, and we are one team and united, having great character and attitude, and with that kind of approach we can only help each other to achieve. We fight for each other with only one thing on our minds and that is to play well and win matches. We’ve got good players here and these are the guys who qualified the club into the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup, and there’s nothing new I did except for the things I have mentioned. The main thing was to tell the players to please trust the process. It might take time but as long as we are all working towards the same goal and make sure that we pull in the right direction, we may benefit and indeed we did. God has been on our side. If you were to ask me when I joined the club in November if I thought I would be in this position now, I probably would have said no. I can’t say it’s magic, but it’s been through hard work and teamwork and believing in what we are doing as the club.

MQ: Tell us about the lessons learnt in the Confederation Cup.

LS: The experience was good. Some of the lessons we learnt were tough. It was good to campaign in that competition, and I think our character also helped us. The main issue with playing in Africa is travelling and the different time zones in the different countries that one has to travel to. Travelling in Africa can be very complicated. In some of the countries you find that the reception is a little bit hostile and there’s also the issue of weather which can be very hot. But through it all, we had to remain focused on the task at hand and we didn’t want to complain. We gave it our best to make sure that we made Sekhukhune supporters happy. Having played there and reached the stage that we reached, I can say now that we have an idea of how it is there. It was the first time for the club to campaign in that competition and coming out in the group stages wasn’t bad, I think. What we have learnt is that it is always important to win your home matches because when you play away it is always going to be very difficult because of the conditions and everything else I have already mentioned. Everybody there is using whatever they feel will work into their advantage and you’ve got to be prepared for all sorts of things being done against you. A lot of lessons were learnt. Some of our young players who had been promoted from the DDC (DStv Diski Challenge) team got their chance to play in the competition and I think for them that was the experience of their lifetime.

MQ: When you were hired to replace Brandon Truter, what is it that the management said expected you to achieve with the team?

LS: Sekhukhune has been in existence for only a few years but when you look at the club it’s like it has been there forever. That’s because this is a club that’s very ambitious. But I must mention to you that the management is not putting me under pressure. What I was told was that I just needed to make sure that the team improves. We just needed to make sure th atwe do better and finish in a better position on the log than the team did last season. The team finished seventh last season and reached the final of a cup competition (Nedbank Cup). The aim was for us to also go to the final of a cup competition to try and win it, but unfortunately, we couldn’t as we bowed out of the Nedbank Cup in the quarterfinals (Last 16). With the experience that some of our players have been getting, next season we will hopefully do well in the competition. We will try again, and we know our mandate. If we can try and win one trophy, and we always try to better our position on the log, and that’s what we aim to achieve.

MQ: Are you competing for the sought-after second place finish to qualify for the Champions League?

LS: At the moment, my answer to your question is no. We are taking it one game at a time, and I don’t think we can stand on top of the mountain and shout that we have qualified even for the Top Eight. I think we still need about 10 or 12 points to say that we have cemented our position in the Top Eight and only after that can we start talking about other possibilities. For now, I can only say that we are fighting to stay in the Top Eight bracket and anything more than that will be a bonus for us. We can’t be talking about qualifying for the Champions League at this moment because, if you look at the log, the margins are very close as teams are competing to finish in the Top Eight and I think goals are going to be very important, come the end of the season to decide some of the positions.

MQ: Prior to joining Sekhukhune, you were with Polokwane City, but it was your exit that shocked many as the team was doing well. What happened?

LS: (Sighs heavily) Ja, my brother, it was after my father’s passing and my family was not coping here in Johannesburg, and I had to make a decision. So, it was a matter of choosing whether to stay there (Polokwane), or to come to Jo’burg. I lost my mom a year ago, and then this year I lost my father, and it was a bit difficult for my family. You know the grandparents are always good in looking after the kids, and it was always going to be difficult without them being there anymore, and I had to do something to help the wife. I spoke to the chairman (Johnny Mogaladi) and explained to him that I needed to be closer to my family, and he agreed. I needed to look for opportunities in and around Johannesburg, and here I am.

MQ: From all of us at Soccer Lasend duma, we our condolences to you and your family for the loss of your parents. Do you have any mesBabina sage to the Noko family as we conclude? LS: Thanks, my brother. First of all, I’d like to thank the club management – the CEO and the chairman – the Malatji family for everything. Secondly, the staff at the club, and those are the people who welcomed me very warmly, and they have been excellent to me since day one. To the Babina Noko supporters, you are one group that reminds me of my playing days at (Bloemfontein) Celtic. We do see ou at the stadiums, and on bethe half of club, I would like to say we appreciate you. You might not be the biggest group in terms of the number s, but we do hear your voices when you sing for us. As our 12th man, you are always there to push the guys on the field, and we would like to say we appreciate you, and we will always try and make you happy with our performances on the field and the results. We will always try for you guys so that even if we lose, we do so while fighting. As we are moving towards the final stretch of the season, we urge you to come in our matches in your numbers to support us.

MQ: We’re sure Babina Noko supporters will apprehearing ciate this. Good luck for the remainder of the season, coach. LS: Thank you very much, my brother. #Adibahlabe.

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