Tsotsetsi now pulls the strings
FORCED TO RETIRE AFTER A LITANY OF INJURIES, TITAN MOVED INTO COACHING
Mokete Tsotetsi is your typical gentle giant. He looks imposing but claims he has a very soft heart and can get very emotional over the smallest things. He doesn’t like seeing other people suffer and that is why the rising crime levels in the country worry him greatly.
Tsotetsi played for Jomo Cosmos, Kaizer Chiefs, Bloemfontein Celtic and Vasco da Gama before injuries forced him into early retirement after a short stint at then National First Division side Roses United.
“Bhele (Siyabonga Nomvethe) played until he was 40. I also wanted the same. I wanted to prove this notion that when you reach 32, people start saying you are old without considering the wealth of experience you have accumulated over the years.
“But I had to quit due to the injuries. I felt it was time to call it quits. I still loved the game but I had to retire,” said the Maccabi FC coach. He had worked with Clinton Larsen at Roses and when he retired, Larsen encouraged him to go into coaching and made him his assistant at the Free State club.
“I was sitting at home when coach Larsen called me and said he wanted me to come and work with him. He had seen potential in me. That is how I started my coaching career,” he said.
After Roses, he went on to coach an amateur team in the Eastern Cape but was then called by Maccabi FC bosses and he joined the club. He took Maccabi into the NFD in just his second season.
“Not all of us will get to work in the development structures of the teams we played for. That is why I decided to branch out and stand on my own. Molefi Ntseki and Larsen were the ones who encouraged me.
“I had to start somewhere. The ABC Motsepe League is challenging and a lot happens there, but some of it cannot be mentioned in public. I had so many challenges but the good thing is that the management were on my side and were very supportive. They made a good technical team available,” he said.
Tsotetsi speaks quickly and likes referring to himself in the third person. “Mokete is still a student of the game, still learning but would like to see himself grow and become a recognised coach in Africa and one day be in the national team set-up. That is Mokete’s ambition for now,” was how he put it.
“One of the challenges is that you hardly sleep when you are a coach. You have to think about more than the 25 players in your squad. And all these players have their own way of thinking and different attitudes. You have to keep everyone happy so that they give you their best.
“That is why coaches don’t sleep. You just get a chance to rest when you have your eyes closed at night. The moment you open your eyes you start thinking about the day’s sessions and about the games, thinking about the opponents and all that.”
He said the plan for this season is to stabilise Maccabi and ensure the team retain their NFD status. “We are babies in this league but that doesn’t mean we cannot compete. We are taking it one step at a time. The first priority is to maintain our status, but I do not want to be involved in a relegation dogfight. We have to work hard and stay clear of that.”
Tsotetsi finds himself having to coach his former team-mates and opponents, with the likes of Thapelo Tshilo, Collins Mbesuma and Lebogang Mokoena part of his squad.
“I have guys I played with and some who are older than me, still playing because their bodies still allow them to.
“It is very easy to coach them because they know me. Thapelo knows how I want him to play because I played alongside him. He understands me.”
Tsotetsi’s first taste of defeat in the NFD was served to him by a man he calls his father, Jomo Sono, and he said it was a bittersweet moment for him.
The management were on my side and were very supportive.