PR: Briefly, were you surprised at The opposition will kill you
In this week’s instalment, Mbombela United’s assistant coach, Edward Williams, chats to Soccer Laduma’s Peter Raath about his mandate. He also talks about Oupa Matsebula, new signings and much more.
Peter Raath: What’s your mandate from club boss, Oupa Matsebula?
Edward Williams: For us, it’s to reach the Absa Premiership because there’s no team from Mpumalanga in the top-flight. Whether we do it through automatic promotion or via the play-offs, that’s the mandate (laughing). One club from this province must get promoted and hopefully it will be Mbombela United. There’s already a lovely stadium here. The only thing we’re short of is a PSL team. Don’t forget, our chairman knows the game. Matsebula was once a player and, even at his current age, he continues to participate in matches every Sunday. That means he understands football. Through his passion, the boys are taken good care of. I think our team is doing well. There’s a nice balance of youth and experience. Our head coach, Milton Dlamini, did a good job in choosing the senior players properly. Mbombela’s first home loss when a rejuvenated Royal Eagles won 1-0 via a penalty?
EW: No, Peter. On the day, any team can win – that’s how competitive this campaign is. There’s no easy team. You’ll be surprised in this game. If you’re not humble, the opposition will kill you (huge laughter). There’s no small or big team in the NFD; we’re all equal.
PR: A rewarding aspect of Tingwenyama’s campaign is that newcomers Siyabonga Dubula, Xolani Nkala, Phetolo Sekome, Mziwokuthula Zimu and Lucky Nguzana have scored eight goals between themselves.
EW: I’m happy that most of them are now taking responsibility. Zimu is underrated because, for me, looking at his work rate on the pitch, he’s quality. Matsebula and our former coach, Ashwin Sutton, spotted him. Nguzana knows the league and the type of football that we want to play. I knew him from his time at FC Cape Town, where he did lots of good things. Dubula is fitting in well, which is great as he’s from Cape Town and it’s a bit difficult to settle here in Nelspruit. All the Cape boys have settled and that’s why they’re performing so well. Mbombela has managed to keep five clean sheets in 11 games, which shows that our defence is sound too. Another new signing, Humphrey Khoza, has shone as a defender, while there’s good competition amongst all four of our goalkeepers, including Wensten van der Linde, who we signed from University of Pretoria and Swazi international, Sandile Ginindza. The other two, Sikhumbuzo ‘Senzo’ Khalishwayo and Ludick Mkhatshwa, are also PSL quality. That’s a plus.
PR: On a negative note, Victor Shongwe, Felix Badenhorst and Sekela Sithole have all been red-carded, while the team received numerous bookings.
EW: Eish… Peter, I don’t want to talk about that. I was a clean, hard player in my day, but there’s a big difference in the tempo of the game now (huge laughter). What’s excited me in the last 11 games is that I’ve seen lots of great youngsters in the NFD. For example, when we played Cape Umoya United, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC and Uthongathi, there was good quality. What I like about those players is that they don’t care who’s standing in front on them. That’s how confident most of the young boys are. They’re not playing due to the U23 rule but on merit. Many have come up from the ABC Motsepe League, which is very competitive. The only thing they require is the right guidance from coaches and management. It’s a must for our U20 national team coaches to come and look at our boys in all 16 NFD teams. The NFD has definitely improved a lot since I retired about four to five years back.
PR: What have you learnt since then?
EW: I’m learning as much as I can every day, every season, step by step. I want to say thanks to the late John ‘Urban’ de Kock and coach Ashwin. They were the people who first spotted me. I’ve picked up tips from Jacob Sakala during my time at Baroka FC. He’s a legend of the game. I’m blessed, as Milton gave me the opportunity to again work at Mbombela. It’s nice to learn from different ff people. l All ll of f those guys have been long in football. Managing our players properly is very important to me. If a youngster can focus on his career for 10 to 12 years, he can live off the money earned during that period. Football can be a short or long career depending on how each individual is managed. Last season, we started talking to them about life out there and how to avoid all those funny things. Considering that both Milton and I are ex-players, we know what can kill these laaities. Our boys must enjoy their football and do the best they can in order to make their families proud. Even if I can help one guy to look after his family, then I’ll be proud.
PR: How’s everyone feeling after your 1-0 win over TS Galaxy?
EW: The mood is far better because of what we want to achieve. Mbombela has returned to a play-offs position. I’m happy for Zimu, who scored his fourth goal of the season. Some people forget where he came from.