Mahashe: It’s worrying for everyone

On reports of the club being sold

Well, to be honest with you, it is a worrying factor that the club might be sold, but at the moment we are still assured by the club that we should not worry about what is being said or written about the club until we sit down with the management and take it from there. We were told not to read or listen to anything. So, as far as what is happening with the rumoured sale of the team is considered, I don’t know anything. Even this morning (Monday), I woke up to a message telling me that we might resume training this week and therefore all of us who are not in and around Bloemfontein we will have to make our way back. The club is organising travelling permits for us to go back to Bloemfontein. That is as far as I know. We have seen the stories on the news and that I cannot deny, and I have also seen what Tim Sukazi has been saying about the sale of the club and how he will change the name to TS Galaxy. However, like I said, we were told not to worry about that for now until we sit down with the club management. But it is putting a lot of negative impact on us as a team. It is putting us in a precarious position. You know, when someone buys a team, they take certain players and leave others hanging. But we will only know if the team is really being sold or not when we get to Bloemfontein. We are in the dark for now. It is really putting us in a precarious position right now.

On the Celtic supporters

Even our supporters, this thing is hitting them hard because this team is aligned to the city (Bloemfontein). People know Bloemfontein because of the club. I am sure our supporters, wherever they are, are worried and I am sure that they are pleading with everyone in Bloemfontein and the surrounding areas to come and save the team. As you might have seen, there is already someone who has come out and said he is willing to save the team and help it remain in Bloemfontein. My heart bleeds for the supporters because I know how much they love this team. I have never seen supporters like Celtic supporters in South Africa. I’ve played for Baroka FC before and I have seen that people in Limpopo love football, but they do not come close to Masele. In South Africa, people are not as passionate as people are in Europe where they even buy seasonal tickets, but I have seen that in Bloemfontein. These people even go to our training sessions. That is how passionate these people are about their team and it hurts me to know that they are also in the dark like us as players. It will be even more difficult for them if the team gets sold because we (players) can easily get another team and make it a new home, but for them, they only have this team. If you take it away from them, you are pretty much killing them. It will also impact negatively financially because there are people who work for the team. It’s a worrying factor for everyone. I am sure, though, that after we have sat with the management, everyone will be able to relax a bit. We are faced with COVID-19 and now this. It is a double negative impact that a human can face. Without those supporters, there is no Celtic, so I feel for them. Whether we lose or draw, they are there. That is why I wish whoever buys the team, if it will be sold, will consider them.

On players not losing focus

We draw inspiration from one another and our technical team because they have been very helpful and encouraging in that aspect. They have been very helpful and I think maybe because they are legends of the club, it makes it easy for them. Our situation is an open secret and people read about it every day, but that has never discouraged us. It is not easy getting all this negative energy, but the bond that we have as a team carries us through. We know what we want and the examples that the technical team has been showing us help. I think our season has had ups and downs, impacted by all the negativity that is surrounding the team. You know that we also have a young team and some of the young boys are unable to take all this negativity at times, but because we have senior players in the team, that plays a huge role in guiding them. We also have good captains who are a good link between us and the management. Another thing is that our situation is not as bad as it is made out to be. Our management has been doing all they can to make sure that we are all happy. What I know is that every Absa Premiership team has their own problems. Whether it is (Kaizer) Chiefs, (Mamelodi) Sundowns or any other team, they have problems of their own, but the difference is that they all differ and, secondly, they are not out in the public eye. They are not visible for people to see. Everyone at Celtic is playing their part and I think the bond we have has made us stronger, especially when there is a certain promise that is made by the club and not delivered. We come together and talk it through. Our captains go and talk to the management to resolve such issues. Things like these make one a better player and a better person. And, once again, Celtic does have problems of their own like any other team, but they are not as big or as bd as they are made out to be. My prayers are that everything that is happening must benefit the people of Bloemfontein. I know that football is business and I know that Tim is buying the club so that he can benefit and for the people of Mpumalanga to also benefit, but they should consider that the club is aligned to Bloemfontein and is a deep-rooted club. But we will see what will happen next.

Mzwanele Mahashe, Bloemfontein Celtic defender

ended up without even scoring a single goal. But, on that day, everything simply fell into place. It was mind-blowing really. I enjoyed the game and earned the match ball.

TK: You were voted Austria’s Player of the Month for November.

PD:

November was a very good month for me. I played only two full games and in two others came in during the second half. But I ended up scoring four goals and grabbed three assists. It brought great joy to me personally on realizing that people recognized my contributions. I thank my fans and those that support me and the club for this achievement. I did it for the club, for myself, for the country and for Africa. Some people say it is pure luck, I tend to believe that it is the hard work I have put in over the years. And it is beginning to pay off.

TK: Who inspires you? PD:

My late dad – may his soul rest in peace. He was a footballer and, while growing up, he used to fashion a football out of plastic bags and newspapers for me to play with. My father has always been my inspiration. He used to take me to football matches and I would watch him play. I knew from that young age that I wanted to be a footballer. My dad wanted to reach the highest heights in football. Sadly, he sustained a bad knee injury and he failed to reach my level. I am living his dream. But he has always been my inspiration.

TK: We believe your mom is the one that encouraged you to extend your contract with Salzburg when bigger clubs came sniffing around.

PD:

My mom has always been my number one fan like she used to root for my dad. She used to watch every game that he played and when dad got injured, she was very heartbroken. She didn’t want to have anything to do with football after that. And so, when she realized that I also loved the game, together with my sister and the rest of the family, she became very supportive. I remember this one time I was about to write my Grade 12 examinations and it coincided with a trip to Nigeria as a finalist in the Airtel Rising Star competition. I didn’t know what to do, but my mom sat me down and encouraged me to travel to Nigeria. She told me that it could be a once- in- a- lifetime opportunity, but that if I missed my matric, I could still rewrite the following year. That motivated me and so, when several clubs started making enquiries, she told me to stick it out with Salzburg and reasoned that I would develop better.

TK: You played Liverpool at Anfield. What was the experience like for you?

PD:

It was a very great experience. The atmosphere was simply electric. The people were singing and it was very motivating. Then our own small band of fans that had accompanied us also started signing, louder than I have ever heard them singing. It was so sweet, it really lifted us as a team and it was an awesome experience to play at Anfield.

TK: And did you encounter Virgil Van Dijk, currently considered the best defender in the world?

PD:

I did and, man, all I can tell you is that that guy is something else. He is really something, I tell you. He is so intelligent, it’s like he can read your mind. Every trick you come up with, it’s like he knows already what you want to do. He uses his mind and not so much his body. Much respect for that guy. He earned my respect that day.

TK: How did the Zambian U20 team, which you were a part of, win the Afcon?

PD:

That team was assembled a year earlier and most of us had graduated from the U17. The process started much earlier and we were put in camp for something like six months, doing nothing but preparing for the tournament. For six months, we were together, playing friendly games and, slowly, we started gelling as a team. We got to know each other better and, with the passing of time, developed this telepathy that we almost knew instinctively what the other would do.

There was this solidarity and family spirit that when the tournament came, we simply clicked and would have died for each other.

TK: How painful was it for you and Zambia failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics at the U23 Afcon in Egypt?

PD:

It was really sad and very painful, not just for me but for my teammates and the entire country. As a nation, we had high hopes of qualifying and, with the squad we had assembled, we thought we could make it. We did our best under the circumstances, but we could not achieve the desired results. That is football – sometimes it will bring you joy and other times sadness and, as a footballer, you just have to accept that you can live with disappointment.

TK: From the U23, you were drafted straight into the senior team for their Afcon 2021 qualifier against Zimbabwe.

PD:

I know my body and I’ve come to teach myself to prepare for the unexpected. But at that moment when told that I had been included into the senior team, it came as a shock. I accept that as a patriot, you must be ready at all times, but that was one time when the call came unexpected. I was still dealing with the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, but despite the unexpected turn of events, that is what I had chosen to be – a footballer – and I just had to adjust myself and be ready for the challenge that lay ahead.

TK: Two years ago, you were voted the CAF Young Player of the Year. PD:

That award was an award that was difficult to explain, but it acted as a huge motivation for me. I have always believed that in my chosen career, I have to work hard and, to be quite honest, I didn’t even know what that award was all about or what it really meant. I got to know about it when someone informed me that I was shortlisted. They then explained to me what it stood for and why I had been nominated in that category. But, to tell you the truth, I have never gone out of my way to play for awards or impress somebody. I just play for the team and whatever comes is a bonus.

TK: Shortly before the lockdown, Milutin Sredojevic was appointed coach of Zambia. Have you had time to talk and has he outlined to you the role he wants you to play?

PD:

Yeah, we have been talking quite a lot. He is really a good person even if we have not yet met physically. He has told me lot of things that made me realize what he expects from me and what he wants from me. He explains things to greater details to stress his point. He has been very supportive of my career and over the phone he tried to assist me and how I could become an even better player. He tells me things I’ve done and how I can do them differently. A man that can speak to a player like that has a lot to offer the game and I cannot wait to start working with him.

TK: Zambia has lost both their opening two Afcon 2021 qualifiers against Algeria and Zimbabwe.

PD:

We brought this to ourselves and it is up to us to extricate ourselves from the position we find ourselves in. In the next four matches, we have to put in that extra shift. Maybe it is time to start doing things differently and, as long as there is a one percent chance to qualify for the 2021 tournament, we are not going to let up but will give it our best shot. We owe it to ourselves and to our countrymen.

TK: Patson, it has been a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you very much and best of luck.

PD: It has been a pleasure. ❐

“I have never gone out of my way to play for awards or impress somebody.”