That is what I bring

Having closed the chapter on a club he loves with body (considering he has a tattoo of their crest), mind and soul, Linda Mntambo is ready for his new challenge at Sekhukhune United, whom he joined prior to the beginning of the current season. Even though he was not playing as regularly as even he would have liked at Orlando Pirates, his infectious wellmannered demeanour in the dressing room, often leading the troops in song and dance before matches, left an indelible mark on teammates, coaches and fans, hence some were heartbroken to see him go. But such is football, tough decisions have to be made, with a number of factors taken into consideration, and the 32-year-old has taken it on his chin. After all, as captain of Babina Noko, the last thing he can afford is to dwell on the past. Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver caught up with the Orlando-born midfielder to find out about how the process of adjustment has gone at the Kaitano Tembo-led side.

Delmain Faver: Figo, early on in your Sekhukhune United days, you have been handed the captain’s armband. Wow! Linda Mntambo: I am honoured and humbled to be given the role and the task to lead the team in the new season and with my players congratulating me on somedia cial and all over to say, ‘Congratulations, skipper’, it comes with great responsibility. It’s no excuse, I need to pull my weight on the field, and on and off the field I need to lead. I think the team has maybe seen the leadership qualities that I possess and they see that it will be easy for me to help and lead the team. I am excited. It’s a new challenge for me, but it’s not new, I have been captaining at my previous teams, so it’s a role that I am familiar with. I just need to come in there and do my all on the field.

DF: There are other leaders around you as well if you look at Daniel Cardoso, Willard Katsande and Victor Letsoalo. These are players who were captains at their previous clubs. How much assistance does this provide for you knowing that you have this strong support cast in your new role? LM: Yeah, it’s always important because if you look at our team, it’s a mixture of experience and young players. Like you’ve mentioned, Danny has been capKaizer tain at Chiefs where he comes from, Victor, Toaster (Nsabata), Katsande himself. We have Tashreeq (Morris), who is an experienced player – he has been in the game for quite some time now. We have some leaders on the field and that makes it easy. It makes it easy for me to do my job. I know I am not the only one, I’m just given that task becau se there can only be one captain on the day. So, I’ve been given the task to actually captain the team and my job, if I’m starting and I’m on the field, is just to speak to the referee, choose a side and who takes kick off. That is my only role and off the field, it is to make sure that I lead the team in a positive way.

DF: Sure… LM: At the end of the day, I need to work equally so with the other players that are there. Even at training sessions, I need to impress. Every match I come into, it doesn’t mean because I am captain, I am eligible to start every game, you know. I need to show the coaches that I am ready to start the next game and the next game I want to play. So, I have my own targets and my own goals, and I have said that I want to play as many games as I can and help the team and contribute to its success.

DF: You are one of those players that can play more than one role on the field. What has coach Kaitano Tembo said he expects from you in terms of your play?

LM: Ja, no, the coach has welcomed me very well and the one thing is that I need to bring in my quality, and he said it to everybody that each player needs to bring in his quality to make sure that the team becomes a strong team. Individually, we need to be strong so that in a group set-up, we can be good. It’s not only about me, but it’s about the team, so he has made it clear to everybody that they need to be leaders in their positions and they need to be leaders of themselves and make sure that they bring their A-game on the field, which will make it easier for us to compete against all the other teams that we will be playing against. So, that in itself says it’s not about me, it’s about the team. He knows that I cannot attack, defend, score and be the goalkeeper (at the same time). I need to play my role on the field and the rest of my teammates do that too. He expects us to play as a team and gel. Recently, we had a teambuilding exercise and the aim of that was to get along, to fight for one another and to fight for the badge. It was to make sure we get to know one another’s strengths and weaknesses to ensure that we adjust and help one another going forward.

DF: On social media, you were quite a hit with your dancing and singing skills, which lit up the dressing room at your previous clubs. Is that something you are looking to bring to Babina Noko as well?

LM: Yeah, man, it’s always nice. I always tell my teammates that once we step onto the four lines, we need to compete on the field because that is when competition starts. But when we get off, we need to be teammates, we need to be brothers and help one another. We need to uplift one another. If one is not having a good day, we need to lift him up and that is what I bring. I am one person who is big on upliftment and that is what I’m gonna do. When we get onto the field, we work as hard as we can for the entire training session, but when we step out, it’s done, there is no longer competition. That is when we bring in that brotherhood. You can have all of the best players, but if they don’t have that brotherhood and cohesion, it’s gonna be difficult for them to win. If you look at your big teams around the world, PSG have got talent in abundance, but it’s hard for them to win the Champions League, you understand? Whereas you find teams like Liverpool, those guys work together, they love one another, they respect the coaches and they’re pulling in one direction. So, that in itself will actually help us if we bring in that cohesion and team spirit that we create off the field. If we take it onto the field, it will help us get results.

“They have done their part, it’s up to us now to do our part on the field.”

DF: How much of a change in culture has it been for you? Obviously, you come from an institution that is quite close to your heart, which is Orlando Pirates. You even have their badge tattooed on you.

LM: There isn’t much (of a difference), or maybe it’s because of the kind of person that I am. I’d like to believe that I am flexible and that I adapt to any environment. I was at (Jomo) Cosmos, I moved to Chippa (United), I moved to Pirates, and I’ve never found it hard to adapt and be a part of an environment that I find myself in. I accept the environment and the people that I work with. I am not one to complain. I get going and if we have to train where there is no grass, I’d do that. I’m not one to say, ‘Ah, where we come from, this is what was done.’ No, I adapt. You

work for everything you have in life. It’s like us now, we are not a big team at Sekhukhune, but our efforts on the field will determine how we get results and hopefully we have a successful season. Things are gonna change. We’ll get more sponsors. It will be better (in order) for us to get a lot of things. It’s up to us as players. Management have done so much by getting us good players, as well as the technical team for making sure that it is easier for us to train and prepare for matches. It’s up to us players. It was a whole six weeks of training and pre-season, the team has been working hard and pulling their weight. We went to Durban for a few friendly matches and that shows the team that they want to win and now it’s up to the players. They have done their part, it’s up to us now to do our part on the field.

DF: Finally, what is it that you guys would love to achieve come the end of the season?

LM: Improve our log position from last season. Win more games compared to what the team won last season. Decrease the number of draws and score more goals. I think there should just be improvement in every respect. We just want to improve. Individually, as players, we just want to improve and learn a lot from the coaches because that is what improves our game. Hopefully the coaches can help us do that and make sure that we are better players and, most importantly, better human beings because you can’t only compete, you have to be a better person.