What hurt us this season…

It has become somewhat of a norm for Black Leopards to be in the relegation zone since gaining promotion back to the Absa Premiership in the 2017/18 season. Not even their host of experienced signings at the start of the season has helped them escape this status quo, as they find themselves having to fight for their topflight status via the dreaded playoffs. One of the club’s star performers this season, Khuliso Mudau, comes clean on what he believes has been hindering the team’s progress, in this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo. “Sailor”, as he is fondly referred to, also reveals his wish to play for one of the Big Three sides, although he remains non-committal on which team among those he’d prefer to play for. Read on for more…

Beaver Nazo: Sailor, unfortunately, after failing to secure a positive result in the last game of the season against Mamelodi Sundowns, you’ll have to spend two more weeks in the bio-bubble fighting for your lives, with your first promotion/relegation play-offs game taking place against Ajax Cape Town today (Wednesday).

Khuliso Mudau: Eish, I am devastated and so is everyone in the team. We never wanted things to turn out this way. It is what we have always been talking about, that we have to make sure we do all we can to avoid the play-offs. All that is left now is for us to make sure that we fight tooth and nail to survive. We need to give everything we have in these four games and then we will talk after that. Nothing else matters for us now other than these four games. Our lives depend on these four games. We want to remain in the PSL.

BN: You didn’t play like guys who were willing to give everything, like you say, in the game against Mamelodi Sundowns last weekend though. In fact, you guys never really arrived for that one as it was one-way traffic from the first to the last whistle. You just didn’t show up.

KM: Yeah, I think this thing of playing many games in a short space of time really didn’t help us. The game that we played against Bidvest Wits took a lot out of us. We tried, but we were just tired. We knew our situation before that game and we knew what we needed to do, but unfortunately, our bodies couldn’t carry us on the day.

BN: How will it be different then in these play-offs because it will be more intense and you have back-to-back games?

KM:

Yeah, we do not have a choice now but to dig deeper into our tanks if we are to remain in the PSL for the 2020/21 season. We have no choice but to do better and if it means that we have to die on the field trying to achieve that, then so be it.

BN: What was the plan going into the Sundowns game?

KM:

We do not want to lose our PSL status and going into that game, we needed a draw, knowing that a win would be a bonus because we know how Sundowns play and they have the experience of winning the league. It didn’t happen, but we have been given another chance to fight again. We have to take this chance. There is no other option because we don’t want to lose jobs. Remember, this is all it comes down to, people losing jobs when the team goes a division down as there will be a lesser amount of the grant from the League and a whole lot of other things.

BN: Surely you guys watched Ajax battling it out against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC in the first game of the play-offs over the weekend. What were your impressions?

KM: We have to be careful and not take these teams lightly because they play in the GladAfrica Championship. Both teams have players that have played in the Absa Premiership and, for them, it is a case of now or never. These games are really going to be tough. They could surprise us.

BN: Are you not worried about the fatigue factor that you alluded to earlier?

KM: Yeah, we had a meeting on Sunday regarding that and we talked and agreed that this is the last hurdle and we need each and every one to give over 100 percent. The good thing for us is that this is not completely new for some of the players, as you might recall that the team got promoted through the play-offs. The senior players, like Thabo (Matlaba), also had a word with the young players, telling them about the importance of remaining in the PSL. He made all of us aware that in the

GladAfrica Championship, it will not be the same as playing in the PSL and that it would be a disadvantage for all of us. The salaries there are not the same as in the PSL.

BN: Speaking of the relegation battle, you guys are not completely safe until you win the playoffs…

KM: As players, we see ukuthi (that) we need to work very hard and make sure that we are not going down. No one wants to get relegated and no one wants to go to the play-offs because once you get to the play-offs, anything can happen there. Nonetheless, we are there now. The guys from the lower division see that as their only opportunity. They don’t have the pressure that a PSL side has when playing the play-offs. Playing them while the pressure is on us will be very difficult for us. I have personally played in the NFD and I don’t wish to go back there because it is very hard down there. It’s really not easy there. Every game down there is like a cup final and there is no time to relax.

BN: Moving on… Speaking to Soccer Laduma in issue 1187, your former teammate Cuthbert Malajila said that there is a lot going on at the club that is wrong and detrimental to the success of the team. What exactly is it that is going wrong in the club?

KM: I think into esishaye kakhulu (what hit us hard) is the constant changing in the coaching personnel. Whenever there is a new coach, we must change the way we play because he comes with his philosophy. That is where it all goes wrong, because just when we start to understand the coach’s philosophy and way of doing things, useyahamba, kufike omunye omusha (he leaves and a new one comes in) with new ideas and a new way of doing things. I mean, look at all the quality players that the team signed this season. I don’t want to lie, basisize kakhulu (they helped us a lot) because we needed experienced players to help the team. If you look at last season, we didn’t have many experienced players and the management sat down and decided that we needed experience in the team. And the guys are helping us in every way possible. We all worked hard to keep the team out of the relegation zone. We will fight tooth and nail to make sure that the team is safe. Right now, we need to be one, we need to have one heart and tell ourselves one thing, that we are going to make it. Football doesn’t have a ‘therefore’. Who would have thought that Bayern Munich would beat Barcelona 8-2, for example? No one could have predicted that. In football, one can never tell what will happen tomorrow. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

BN: A lot of teams came back from the break a shadow of their former selves. How much of an impact did the hiatus have in your case?

KM: The COVID-19 break really messed things up for everyone, even though kunama (there are) clubs that seem to have benefited from it. If you look at Kaizer Chiefs, they were hot before the break, but they struggled to really get going. They dropped a lot of points. I can say the break really messed things up, but then again, a team like Cape Town City seems to have benefited from the break because they have been doing very well since the break. I think they were number 13 before the break and now they are in the Top Eight, and the good thing about them is that they always keep their coaches. I think they have a third coach now in as many years. That helps a lot because there is a bond and understanding.

BN: Sadly, the same cannot be said about you, with Alan Clark being the latest to depart the Lidoda Duvha camp…

KM: Yeah, and the sad thing is that he is the only one who has been here long, having assisted coach Cavin Johnson before. Besesisazi ukuthi

ufuna sidlale kanjani (We knew how he wanted us to play). But as sad as it was to see him go, it was a decision he needed to take because he said he got a better opportunity. It was his decision and this thing of coaches moving all the time hurt us this season. I mean, omunye nomunye uza ne style sakhe sokudlala (each and every coach comes with his own playing style). As players, it really affected us.

BN: Let’s go back a bit. Last season, you got two back-to-back red cards, leading to a notion you were a dirty player. What was going on in that period?

KM: You know, in football, you will never enter the field hoping to get a red card. We all make mistakes. I made a mistake and I have since learnt that I need to relax a bit. Singabantu asifani (As people, we are not the same) – some of us are not playing football for money. We play football because we love it and asithandi ukudliwa ngoba akekho umuntu othanda ukudliwa (we don’t like losing because no one likes losing). Even Lionel Messi doesn’t like losing. Mina ibhola ngiyalithanda, ngilidlala ngentliziyo yami yonke (I love football, I play it with all my heart) and I always want to help the team to win games.

BN: That is commendable, but it doesn’t mean you must hurt others, Sailor. Your commitment has not gone unnoticed because big clubs have now taken note of you and have reportedly started monitoring your progress.

KM: I never meant to hurt anyone. I respect all my opponents. It was just a mistake. Let me say there is no player who doesn’t wish to play for the big clubs like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. I wish I could one day play for one of these clubs. It is my wish to play for one of them. When you play for these teams, you stand a chance of being selected for Bafana Bafana. What I can say for now is that if it happens, it happens because I am contracted to Leopards and I cannot jump the gun.

BN: We understand that you grew up supporting Chiefs…

KM: Ha, ha, ha, you’ll never know who I will talk the same language with when it comes to what I wish for. There are a lot of dynamics in a football transfer, so I cannot say who I would choose if they all come knocking.

BN: Let’s leave it there. Good luck in the play-offs.

KM: No problem. Thank you.