Games that put Chiefs in history books

“That is why I always keep a low profile.”

It’s not the reason he answers to the nickname ‘Madala’, but Ndumiso Mabena has been in the game for a while and is the go-to man for goals at Bloemfontein Celtic, where he is really enjoying his game after going through a bad patch in his career, particularly at Orlando Pirates. What’s more, the 33-year-old is the club’s skipper, which means he has the added responsibility of guiding his younger teammates, providing leadership during good and bad times and always leading by example. He, therefore, cannot put a foot wrong, and indeed, has hardly put a foot wrong this season, with Siwelele doing well even despite all the challenges the club has been facing. In this interview, Mabena talks to Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo about his role, the team’s target and why he didn’t set the scene alight at the Buccaneers.

Beaver Nazo: Madala, getting hold of you is as hard as selling ice to an Eskimo.

Ndumiso Mabena: Ha, ha, ha, yeah. Umuntu uma umfuna (When you want someone) seriously, kumele umfune uze umthole (you have to keep looking for them until you get them).

BN: On a serious note, you’re captaining a Bloemfontein Celtic side that consists of a lot of young players, and you’ve been doing well this season.

NM: Well, it is very important when you start a new season to first look at the previous season and see how well or badly you did and take it from there. I think that we laid a good foundation for this campaign last season. We even played the MTN8, although we were knocked out early. We have to be in the Top Eight again at the end of this season. We do have a chance to do that because we are currently number nine on the log and the teams above us are only three to four points ahead of us, which we can overturn. With the games that are left, we can still do it. The team that we had last season had many young players that were promoted to the team. I think what helped us is the fact that there is not much that has changed. We are still playing the same football we were playing even under the previous coach.

BN: Right.

NM: We are still keeping the same spirit and the same mentality against all odds, despite everything that has been happening and said about Bloemfontein Celtic. We keep soldiering on. We do what we are employed to do, which is bringing results to the team, you know. As a captain, it is a huge responsibility and one has to teach the young lads what and what not to do on and off the field. I am not doing it alone, though. There are other senior players here and they have helped me a lot. It helps the team and, looking at us being in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup, it means we are a game away to the final and it’s an opportunity to win something for the club and the fans. As a captain, I would love to see us finish the 2019/20 season with some silverware. We know it will not be easy, but we can do it. We will work our socks off to give the Siwelele faithful something this season.

BN: You say, “…despite everything that was said”. Siwelele’s struggles have been out there in the public domain, especially with regards to salary payment issues. Coach Steve Komphela highlighted some of these issues in his resignation letter. What is really going on at Celtic?

NM: I do not want to dwell too much on history and what coach Steve said because he said what he had to say, but like I said to you earlier, we as players only concentrate on playing and doing well for the team. Yes, it happened last season whereby we had a struggle being paid, but at the end of the day, we got our money. This season we have been going on well despite all the rumours. Our focus is on getting better on the field of play and bringing results to the team. Now we are in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup and there are still stories written about the club and us not being paid. Our focus is on playing football and, fortunately, we are a bunch that is mentally strong. Whatever that has been said outside football, whatever that has been written about Celtic players not being paid and this and that, as well as rumours of the team being for sale, it doesn’t get to us as players. We train and prepare for games and concentrate on that only. We don’t take these rumours into consideration. We go back tomorrow and do our job and make the supporters happy because they do not watch what is reported, but (they watch) us playing.

They go to the stadium to watch us play football and good results are what makes them happy. We have been working our socks off to make sure that we put smiles on their faces. As captain of the team, even though I know that we can do better, I must say I am happy with what we have been doing as a team.

BN: As skipper, how would you break the news to your teammates that there would be no payments come payday when it happened?

NM: We were always talking about it amongst ourselves as players and what helps is that we are united. At the end of the day, we have to go, play and make sure that the team is not relegated because we will lose jobs should that happen. Even when we had the problems, we would say, “Guys, let’s go do our job and we will come back and fight for whatever we want to fight for after that. Let’s go out there and show people what we can do and they will support us in what we are fighting for.” I was happy that we did all that.

BN: Despite all that, though you managed to win the first five games of the season. We understand that there was a strike going on, how did you manage to win the games? NM: What we did was train twice a week and then go back to strike. We were winning games because we were determined to win games, even though we also had a problem with the club’s management, which was resolved though.

BN: It’s now history that the club’s supporters were so fed up about some of these issues that they took to invading the pitch at Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium when you guys played Cape Town City towards the end of last season. These are the people who are known to always be behind the team come rain or shine, singing in the stands and providing an example to supporters of other clubs of what it means to be a supporter through thick and thin. How did it get to that?

NM:

It was bad, hey, and we were also disappointed with what happened on the day because we did not expect that to happen. We went to camp and we were ready for the game, not knowing that the incident would occur. We lost the three points and we had to work hard to get into the Top Eight. We just hope that it does not happen again in future because already it has caused harm to the team. It would be good that they do not repeat what they did. Every game we play, we play for them. They must know that whenever we take to the field, our aim is to put smiles on their beautiful faces.

BN: Let’s now talk about the rumours that are out there that Bloemfontein Celtic is close to being sold to Tim Sukazi…

NM: Look, I am aware of that only by reading about it and seeing it on social media. No one has said anythi thing about it from the club. I arrived in Bloemfontein at 23h10 last night (MondayM night). I am just waiting for thhe meeting … maybe I will know tthen. For now, the club just called us back because there is a possibility of returning to training. We are waiting, but we have been training on our own.

BN: Sukazi confirmed to Soccer Laduma that the team will move to Mpumalanga and be renamed n TS Galaxy if the deal becom mes successful. Will you move with th NM: e team in that case?

Those were his words, so it will be up to him who he is taking with. I am contracted to Celtic. Who he will be taking or leaving will be entirely up to him. He will decide which players and technical team he wants, which is why I will never comment on whether I would go or not.

BN: Moving on. You and coach Lehlohonolo Seema were once teammates at Orlando Pirates. What has it been like working with him as your coach?

NM: Firstly, he was an experienced player when I joined Pirates and I used to watch him play for them before I got there. He also captained Celtic before and he is a legend here. Him being a coach here makes things easy for me. I mean, it is always good to see a familiar face when you get to a new environment, someone who can say, “This is how things work here” and all that. That is why it did not take me long to settle when I got here. There were also players that I had played with at Pirates, like Jacky Motshegwa and Khethokwakhe Masuku, and they made it easy for me because even in our spare time, we would talk about the system and how I should approach things. He (Seema) is still doing the same thing and I really appreciate it.

BN: Seema was recently quoted in the media saying that sometimes he gives you a break in- between the team’s training sessions to save you...

NM: Ha, ha, ha, it’s not only me hey. They do that to all the senior players. They look after us. They look at it this way… there are so many games that I, for example, have played and they work it out. They do give us rest, not necessarily a rest because we still go to training but only work with the

“Whether they were interested or not doesn’t mean anything.”

conditioning coach on those days we are given. After the conditioning, then we take it easy and we, as senior players, will be told to come at a different time.

BN: Let’s move on to the never-ending rumour of you joining Kaizer Chiefs. What’s the story there?

NM: Look, I have been reading about it when you guys write about it. There has not been any contact between Chiefs and me. I have always responded to it by saying that I am a Bloemfontein Celtic player and even when I was at Platinum Stars, I was their player until I left them for Celtic. I have never been contacted by anyone at Chiefs. Those were just rumours.

BN: In your days at Bucs, you teamed up with Benni McCarthy, amongst other players. Tell us about the feeling of playing with Benni and Tokelo Rantie, who was training with Celtic not long ago?

NM: My brother, I think it is one of the goals that I have achieved in my life. Benni has always been my role model, a person that I was looking up to growing up and sharing a dressing room with him, I was very lucky and I thank God for that. He showed me many things and I appreciate that. I thank God for giving me a chance to play with my role model before he retired. Tokelo is also a fantastic player. We played against him when he was at Farouk Khan’s academy (Stars of Africa) when we played a friendly game with them and I was not surprised to see Pirates signing him after that. I hope that he will be back on the pitch where fans will see him do what he does best.

BN: It has to be said though that the Ndumiso Mabena who was a hit at Winners Park and the current Ndumiso Mabena who is enjoying the form of his life at Celtic is a far cry from the Ndumiso Mabena of Pirates, where you came under severe pressure from the fans for a failure to score goals.

NM: I cannot give you a specific reason, except saying that clubs are not the same and even their styles of play are not the same. At Winners Park, I was playing as a number nine and I enjoyed it, but at Pirates, I only played as a number nine in my second last season. All those years, I was playing as a supporting striker (number 10). I cannot give you a reason to say exactly why I did not score more goals at Pirates. I think I did my level best, but it was just the position I was playing. Even here at Celtic, I am playing as an outand-out striker, which gives me more opportunities to score goals. Playing as an out-and-out striker gives me more opportunities to score than playing as a number 10, which was the case at Pirates.

BN: Would it be fair to say you’re one of those players who thrive at so-called smaller sides where there’s less pressure?

NM: I will never comment on that one because I don’t know that. Having said that, everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you say that, it is fine. Such things depend on how one takes them and I do not have a problem. I always take things positively and I know that I am at work. All I do is keep it professional, as I am a professional player. That is why I always keep a low profile. I am not too much even into social media. I keep it low and I am humble to everyone. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A person is a person because of others) at the end of the day. Those who have that opinion, it’s okay.

BN: Seemingly, your niche these days is making the team play. Before your match against Mamelodi Sundowns back in February, coach Pitso Mosimane heaped high praise on you, even likening you to Lionel Messi. He revealed, “Mabena runs the show there. He is the star of the show. He does whatever he wants. Sometimes he even walks without defending. But he scores for them, why not?”

NM: Well to get such high praise from one of the biggest coaches in the league is very humbling. He said all those things because he could see how I play. That encouraged me to work even harder because it means that he is seeing the good work that I do for my team.

BN: Some may have interpreted it as him maybe hinting at wanting you at Downs, as it’s a known fact that ‘Jingles’ is not generous with his praises. You’ve got to be something special to earn his attention as an opposition player.

NM: Hayi baba (No, brother), I will not comment on anything that involves other teams or joining other teams because I am the captain of Celtic and I only talk about my club. Whether they were interested or not doesn’t mean anything because I am a Celtic player.

BN: Okay. Let’s leave it there, bro. Thanks a lot for your time.

NM: Thank you. ❐