Phala: It’s been a rough few months

“I had to be fair to myself and to the club.” “I understood where he was coming from.”

There’s no denying Thuso Phala’s talent as a footballer. It was by no fluke that he turned out for the likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, and even racked up a total of 21 caps for Bafana Bafana. Ask any Absa Premiership fullback that has come up against him and they will tell you they would rather see him on the bench or in the stands than have him on the pitch, where he is notoriously known to leave them for dead, in the process showing them the diamonds on the soles of his boots. Therefore, it left a bitter taste in the mouths of his supporters when the news came through that his SuperSport United days were numbered, on account of disciplinary issues. The thing about big-name players falling from grace is that such a development is accompanied by a loud bang, and so Phala’s Matsatsantsa exit has elicited a great deal of interest from observers. But, in this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Celine Abrahams, the likeable winger says it’s not yet time to close the chapter of his playing career, as he goes on to address those rumours.

Celine Abrahams: Phalaza, how’s life on the list of the clubless?

Thuso Phala: It’s going okay. I would say that I am on “leave” (laughs). I have been at home with family, relaxing and taking time out for myself. I must say, though, that it is starting to feel weird, you know. Usually, when I was still with a club, you would have off-season and that’s almost a month off, but now I have been at home for longer than that and I am starting to miss the game. I was used to getting up in the mornings to get ready to go to training… so ja, I am just waiting for pre-season actually to see how everything goes for me.

CA: How are you keeping fit on your own?

TP: It’s difficult when you are on your own. I have never had or been in a situation where I had to train on my own, but I just wake up and go for a jog – that’s all I can really do at this moment. I was planning on going to train with TS Galaxy, but they have a busy schedule. That plan didn’t work out because they have the Nedbank Cup final and their games in the NFD to focus on. I just have to continue waiting for pre-season so that we can get a club where I would be given the chance to play. My manager has been speaking to a couple of clubs, so Sasia Michaels knows which clubs exactly. I’m just waiting to hear from him what the way forward is for me.

CA: Age is also going to play a key factor, we would imagine.

TP: That’s true, but I am still good to go and I have the experience and the willingness to play. Football is a part of me and I still want to contribute to our game. It has been a rough few months, but I am still here and I want to continue doing what I know and love, which is playing football.

CA: Let’s talk about these “rough few months”. Your illustrious career at SuperSport United ended on a rather sour note. What exactly happened?

TP: Firstly, before I even go on to talk about how my time there ended, I must say that I had a great time at SuperSport. That’s the club where I had the most success and that’s where I grew a lot as a player. You all know that I became a senior player there, I went to six cup finals, won four of those cups and went to the CAF Confederation Cup final. I achieved more in my career at SuperSport and that’s why when the time came where I wasn’t really playing well, I had to be fair to myself and to the club. I wasn’t the same Thuso that was there three years ago. Every season I would be one of those with the most assists and I would be chipping in with the goals, but in the last season, that wasn’t happening. With me being fair and with being one of the senior players at the club, it was bound to get to a point where a youngster would come in and I would eventually be replaced. As you pointed out earlier, age is really not on my side and the youngsters that came in did very well and, as a footballer, you have to accept such because there comes a time when someone else will come in and take over. That’s why there are no hard feelings from my side.

CA: Right.

TP: My contract came to an end and they felt like the youngsters were doing well and I had to accept that my time there was over. To make things clear, there was no fight or anything that happened between me and the club when we decided to part ways. I’ve moved on and I am very grateful to the club for the achievements and for the great memories that I got to share with them.

Having come from the difficult time that I had at (Mamelodi) Sundowns and (Kaizer) Chiefs, followed by a good season at Platinum Stars, SuperSport came through and gave me the best contract that I’ve ever had in my career. I am very grateful for that because it changed my life as a person and as a footballer. That’s how it is, that’s how football goes. You go to a club, achieve things and, when there is another generation of players coming in, you have to make way for them to shine.

CA: You point out that you weren’t the same player anymore.

TP: I can’t point out exactly the reasons as to why and how it got to that point. For me, it was part of form and, like every other player, you go through a period where your form drops. There were games where I wasn’t playing and there was a timeframe where things weren’t going well for me. Unfortunately, it came when my contract was coming to an end and then it became the end of my journey at the club. It happens and now it’s time for me to bounce back and to try and get a club to regain my form and finish my career on a high.

CA: From being the highest earner at the club to being relegated to training with the MDC team must have taken some getting used to.

TP: Eish, yeah, it was difficult, but being the player that I am, I actually asked to go and train with the MDC squad after I thought that I would get a loan move in January for the last six months of my contract. That obviously didn’t happen and going back to the first team was going to be kind of… I would have felt better as a player if I was getting the chance to play. I felt like I wasn’t part of their plans when it came to challenging for a cup or even for the league, so I wouldn’t be that much involved at training seeing that they knew that I wanted to go somewhere else. So that was the point that I was looking at when I decided to go and train with the reserve side… it was not because of bad blood. It was all about going and getting proper training until the end of the season. This was until we came to a settlement where we decided for me to leave the club, which was an amicable decision. Before, we did ask the club if I could go in January and my manager was the one who was sorting it out with the club, but that didn’t come through because SuperSport wanted a player from that other team as part of the deal. Unfortunately, it carried on until the transfer window closed and we had no choice - I found myself back with the club and I had to remain there. That’s how I decided to

rather go to the reserve side to train until my contract ended.

CA: Mentally, how did you manage the situation?

TP: Again, it is difficult, but my family helped me to stay positive. I was treated well by everyone in the reserve side and it kept my mind off from thinking that I was now training with the reserves, especially coming from where I had been before. I didn’t really have that thing of thinking, “Oh, wow, now I’m here and playing for a reserve team.” Credit to coach Nico (Labohm) who made me feel part of their team and played me in a few friendlies, as that’s what I needed to keep fit. CA: CEO Stan Matthews publicly lamented your off-field behaviour, stating you’d missed training sessions. TP: I understood where he was coming from when he spoke out. He has a club to protect and how things happened when I wanted to leave during that December/ January period… I think that’s where the disappointment came in. When I asked to leave, that’s when I went to my management and I didn’t go to training because I wanted things to be sorted out at the office. They didn’t expect that from me, but when I saw that I wasn’t playing anymore, I thought it would be better for me to find that game-time somewhere else and that (a move) wasn’t happening. It gets frustrating and now, when I look back, maybe it wasn’t good for me to act in that way. But things happened and we move on.

CA: What’s the relationship between you and the CEO like now?

TP: We still have a good relationship and, even after we signed the settlement, we met for lunch. So, to clear the air, we are cool. We all move forward in life and he even told me that I can call him anytime and asked me if I would want to be involved in the club with development coaching and stuff. He has changed my life. He signed me and gave me a contract that I will always be grateful for. He was also grateful for the contribution that I made at the club to achieve what we did. I want to wish the club well because they still mean a lot to me, even the supporters whom I have had a great relationship with. I’ll miss everything about them. Ha, ha, ha, those times after a game where I would go and dance and just enjoy those moments with them will always be a memory that I will cherish.

CA: Thuso, it’s been a pleasure hearing from you and all the best with your future.

TP: Thank you. I appreciate it.