What happened to collective responsibility?

“The first question mark is why is Manqoba still there?” is a very interesting question by Downs supporter Obakeng Mokgara, especially as it is considered that Mngqithi is the ‘biggest loser’ in the new arrangement, going from co-coach to senior coach, where his influence and role in the decision-making is set to wane. Why did Sundowns embark on this restructure? Because the performances were uninspiring and wins not convincing for management’s liking. Fair enough. Who made up the technical team during that time? The same three coaches who are now being reshuffled. How, then, is it that Mngqithi seems to be ‘singled out’, as the demotion suggests, and the two other coaches are getting a promotion? Is he the final guy purely based on the fact he had the final say when there was no consensus in the previous arrangement? Did they feel Mokwena having more authority in the dressing room, being the younger guy with a more modern approach and a Eurocentric approach to coaching, would work a charm? It has also been suggested that perhaps the club felt the co-coaching was no longer working, but then the question remains: if you’re dumping co-coaching and still keeping the two coaches who formed part of it, why not make the more senior of them the head coach? Why take the ‘power’ off him and still keep him? Is this not a recipe for disaster and a breeding ground for a toxic environment, where one coach is hanging around and feeling bitter, while the other one laps up all the new power bestowed on him, thus flexing his muscles at every given opportunity? It should not be forgotten that, as reported in this week’s Siyagobhoza, the relationship between Mngqithi and Mokwena has apparently not improved much from the big incident of September last year, where the former had to eventually apologise to his younger colleague in front of the whole team. Will it deteriorate further, in light of the latest developments, and even scarier, won’t it be at the club’s expense?