Tignyemb: I don’t hold any grudges

After spending more than a decade with Bloemfontein Celtic, goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb made a move to Chippa United, where he reunited with Clinton Larsen. It was not long before he wore the captain’s armband, with his vast experience coming in handy early on in his journey with the Eastern Cape-based club. But things later turned sour for him, and his fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worst, with Veli Mothwa preferred between the sticks. The 34-year-old shot-stopper parted ways with the Chilli Boys just a few months after signing with the club

Yeah, you are right. It’s not a good feeling, but it’s okay. I am not the first one in football to go through this kind of thing. It can happen to anyone, but I know my God is busy with something and I will find a team. My agent is busy with something. I just want to play football, even if I go to the First Division (GladAfrica Championship). I just want to play and enjoy myself, that’s all. I am not being arrogant, but it’s a fact (that) I don’t have anything more to prove in South Africa. It’s my wish to continue playing in the Absa Premiership, but even in the third or fourth division I can play, just to keep going.

TM: You joined Chippa United at the beginning of the season, but were there for only a few months. Firstly, how would you describe your time at the club?

PT:

The time was good. The people welcomed me well and the chairman (Chippa Mpengesi) put things in a nice condition for me to do my job. Management tried their best to respect me as a person, but unfortunately when the new coach (Norand, in this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane, he explains in detail how his relationship with coach Norman Mapeza deteriorated, why he has a lot of respect for club boss Siviwe Mpengesi despite it all and reveals the one coach he’d give an arm and a leg to be reunited with.

Tshepang Mailwane: Patrick, hope you’re well.

Patrick Tignyemb:

I am in Bloemfontein. We wanted to go home (to Cameroon), but the airport has been closed. They are having lockdown back home, but it’s not really strict like here. But we are together as a family. We are watching movies, it’s normal. It’s a good opportunity to be with the family.

I’ve been here for 12 years. We have a lot of friends here and we feel like we are at home. It’s a wonderful place. People love us in Bloemfontein, so we are really happy to be here.

TM: This is the first time since coming to Mzansi that you’re without a club. How have the last few months been without a club to call home?

PT:

man Mapeza) came, he came with his own expectations and plan. I was not part of the coach’s plans. It happens everywhere in the world when a new coach comes with many changes and, unfortunately, I was not part of that. I am not holding any grudges with anyone. It’s part of football.

TM: You started well and played 12 games in all competitions before December…

PT:

It was very funny in the beginning because I was used to playing in the green and white (of Bloemfontein Celtic). I played two games against Celtic ( league and Telkom Knockout) and I was very focused. It was a bit funny for me, but I thank God that I managed. Before those two games, I received messages from all of them, saying, “We are coming for you” and “We are going to give you five, we are going to give you six, madala.” It was a big competition, but in a nice way.

TM: You even captained the team in some of the matches.

PT:

I was made the captain because, as the chairman says, it was because of my performance. We were having a training programme, which was special for the goalkeepers, so everything was perfect. We were training and we were focused on goalkeeping movement, goalkeeping training. Everything was together for me to perform, you understand? But when the new coach came, there was a new structure and everything changed. We started running like headless chickens. We started losing our manner of goalkeeping. It disturbed so many things, but like I said, I don’t hold any grudges to (against) anyone in football.

TM: Did you and coach Mapeza see eye-to-eye?

PT:

Our relationship was not good and it was not bad. I am a person who tells the truth when I see something. I told him the truth, that the way he was doing things was completely wrong. I have been in South Africa for long. Yes, during pre-season, we run, but we can’t have pre-season every day. It’s wrong, it’s not normal. I was the one saying it louder, when other people were staying down, you understand? I told him that, “No, us, we are keepers.” He made us run, run, run. I am not used to running. I am used to diving. So, there was a bit of conflict between him and I, and obviously the relationship was not perfect. We respected each other as human beings. Even on the morning of the game, we were busy running. We are playing in the evening, but we are doing funny things. So that’s what was happening. I went to him and told him the truth. I told him I am not a runner, I am a soccer player.

TM: This is explosive information! PT:

I know that, in my experience in football, we have to run during pre-season, but when we start the season… the Absa Premiership is a very tough league where you need a lot of recovery. But with that man, there is no recovery. You train every day like a headless chicken.

TM: How did he react to you telling him all that?

PT:

You know, in football you can’t know everything. When you say we go left, we have to go left. No! He didn’t want advice. When he says go right, we go right without us being able to ask questions. I am not that kind of person. I have to ask questions and I need answers. If you don’t give me answers, I won’t be able to follow you perfectly. Even if I follow you, I won’t give my 100 percent because you did not give me proper answers.

TM: Were you the only one questioning the coach? PT:

Everyone in the club. The funny thing is that in our football, we don’t have courage or strength or you expect to be victimized. You don’t want to go to the person straight and ask him face-to-face. That’s what I did and that’s why my relationship with him was not so good.

TM: Is this why the club decided to release you?

PT:

No, no, no. The chairman told me that the coach said I am not part of his plans. That’s what I know. I was like, “Okay, chairman, that’s fine.” So, we had to make an arrangement, nothing else. The part of talking with the coach was between me and the coach. The management, the chairman, they were not part of that. The chairman said, “I brought you here. I love you too much. You are my son. But the new coach, you are not part of his plans going forward.” And then I told him, “Yes, chairman, you are right. You are the one who brought me here and I respect you a lot. So, if the coach says I am not part of his plans, there’s nothing I can do. We should just look for a proper arrangement and let me go.” That’s what we did.

TM: It seems like you had a good relationship with Chippa Mpengesi…

PT:

I have a lot of respect for him because he is the first person who had the courage to tell me face-to-face what he thinks. Because I have a lot of respect for him, I did not want him to clash with his coach. That’s why I said, “Chairman, don’t force anything. Let me go back to Bloemfontein.” I love that man too much. Our relationship is good, until now. Yes, sometimes when we are negotiating, your voice can go up. But I love him too much. He has the same character like me. When he has something to say to someone, he tells him straight. If you don’t like it, he will tell. I am that kind of person. That’s why I have a lot of respect for him. I will always respect him for that.

TM: Were you surprised that the coach said you were not in his plans?

PT:

Yes, I was surprised. Because

I spent 12 years in the country and I know very well how the system works and how the Absa Premiership is. But someone from another country comes to my country – if I can put it like that – to tell me that I am not part of the team because I don’t have the level to play in the Absa Premiership. This was a shock for me. I just started laughing, you understand? I didn’t say it, but in my mind, I was like, “I spent 11 years with one team and that was a fluke?” I have Goalkeeper of the Season, I have Player of the Season and Players’ Player (of the Season) at my team (Celtic). For fun? I won trophies for fun? In my mind, I was like, “Just go back to Bloemfontein, my friend.” I was very surprised. Even my roommate William Twala was surprised. He was like, “Is it? This man said you don’t have level to play in the Absa Premiership?” I was just laughing and decided it’s best to go (back) to Bloemfontein.

TM: Were there any disciplinary measures taken against you? PT:

No, not at all. You can ask them. Nothing at all. Never, for what? The only thing I did was to ask the coach why we are running like that. He didn’t give me an answer. That’s the only thing. I don’t think it’s ill-discipline because everyone (else) was thinking the same. Even the goalkeeper coach (Posnet Omony) at that time went to him and asked the same question… “why are the goalkeepers running like that?” I was the only one who had the courage to tell him what I thought.

TM: Any regrets? PT:

No, no. I don’t have any regrets because Chippa is one of the clubs, despite what people are saying, that I respect a lot. I respect them more because of the respect I got from the chairman. Chippa has a very good way to play football. It’s good football. I like attacking football, offensive football. I like it. Like what I told you, the experience I got with the chairman

“He made us run, run, run. I am not used to running. I am used to diving.” “That’s why I have a lot of respect for him.”

made me love that team more. I don’t regret anything. The most important thing for people heading towards the end of their career is to have good relationships and keep in contact with people like Chippa.

TM: As a straight talker, how do coaches handle working with you?

PT:

I’ll never change, my brother. Many coaches didn’t understand me. I won’t give their names, but others called me for a DC because I was fighting defenders. My defenders were complaining that I was fighting them. I rather communicate with my mouth, than with my actions. With modern goalkeeping, if you can control your back four, then you are the best goalkeeper in this world. That way of playing football has helped me a lot and I’ll never change it. The only person who understood that properly was coach Clinton Larsen. He is like a father to me. I love him too much. I am here now because of him. He believed in me. Even if I was off-form, he believed in me. If I have a personal problem, I tell him. If I am broke and don’t have money in my pocket, I tell him and he is going to give me something. So, he is my father. He would give me advice on life and on a lot of things. He wants to help me when I finish playing, on the coaching side. I have a special relationship with that father of mine. He is the only person who understood me very well. He took time to study me. He is someone who is very humble and respectful. When you have someone like that, the only way you can thank him is to fight for him on the field.

TM: Would you like to get another opportunity to work with Larsen? PT:

I will have that opportunity, by force, because he is my father. For sure, I will have it. I am 100 percent sure. It will happen, my brother, don’t worry.

TM: Has everything been sorted out with your settlement and clearance?

PT:

Personally, I don’t have any problem. The Players Union and my lawyer are busy talking with them (Chippa), but there are no problems. There’s no conflict and I am sure that it will be sorted.

TM: So, no issues as to when it will be paid out?

PT:

For now, no. What he decided is to give it to me every month and I don’t have any problems with that and I said thank you to him. It’s not 100 percent perfect, but he is giving me something every month to respect the agreement that we have. You can say that he is trying his best to give me something every month. I really appreciated that.

TM: How long was the contract you signed?

PT: It was two years and a oneyear option.

TM: What more do you still want to do in your career? PT:

I just want to play football. Everything I wanted to achieve, in my personal life, I did it. Houses, cars, anything that can make a soccer player safe after his career, you understand? So now I just want to play football to enjoy myself. I don’t want any regrets when I decide to stop. I don’t want to say I am retiring and then after two years I say I am coming back. No, I don’t want that. When I decide to stop, I must stop and there must be no regrets, you understand?

I want to go all out and enjoy the time that’s left, while I prepare for something like coaching or management, you know. But, for now, I am thinking about everything, but not retirement. Not now. It’s not even near. I am still enjoying myself. Yes, now I don’t have a team, but by the grace of God, I will have a team.

TM: Hopefully you find a club soon, Patrick. Thanks for your time.

PT:

Thank you, my brother. ❐