It’s a heartwarming privilege
Sometimes in football, as in life, one has to take a step back in order to take two steps further, if one wants to achieve one’s ambitions. In the case of Chippa United’s steely defender Roscoe Pietersen, it was a case of having to endure a three-season absence from the elite division, toiling away in the second tier. The comeback has been something of a ‘show off’, so to speak, as he has become the Chilli Boys’ most consistent performer. Being handed the captain’s armband has been the icing on the cake. Unlike during his First Division days, now all eyes are on the 33-yearold as he leads from the back a relatively young team, well aware of the demands on his shoulders. Pietersen tells Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver all about it in this interview!
Delmain Faver: Roscoe, always a pleasure speaking to you.
Roscoe Pietersen: Hi, Delmain. Thanks for this opportunity.
DF: You’re ageing like fine wine as Chippa United’s Mr Consistency having featured in every game so far this season. What do you put that down to?
RP: For grapes to be turned into a fine wine, they need to be pressed and crushed, and that’s been my journey as a professional footballer. So, thanks for the com pliment. To answer your question, what do I put it down to? God, family and a professional lifestyle.
DF: You have also been handed the captain’s armband. What does such an honour mean to you?
RP: It truly means a lot to me. I was at the club when it was established in 2010 and helped the club win backto-back promotions to obtain PSL status. I also captained the team in the 2011/2012 NFD (National First Division, now called Motsepe Foundation Championship) season. So, to be given the opportunity to be captain of the club again, 11 years later, is a heartwarming privilege and honour.
DF: Official stats show that Chippa United have one of the youngest teams in the DStv Premiership. How imit portant has been for you to showyoury ounger teammates the way?
RP: Very i mportant. The best way to lead young players is by action. If you want young players to follow, or to fall in with the culture you are trying to build at the club, you need to lead by action, to show maturity in your professionalism. Because th ese days, the young players want (a) reason as to why a certain degree of discipline needs to be applied to being a professional footballer. It’s not just about your talent, it’s about your character and discipline towards your work. Like the saying goes, “Talent will get you in the door, but character will keep you in the room.”
DF: The seaso n is yet to reach the halfway mark and yet Chippa United are into their second coach, in Morgan Mammila, who replaced Daine Klate. As players, does it affect you when technical team changes happen so frequently?
RP: Change is inevitable. It’s bound to happen in the i ndustry. It’s how we handle it as profession
als. When the team culture is built on constant principles and morals, then regardless of what change happens outside of the dressing room, it shouldn’t have that much of an impact on the players.
DF: Personally, you were permanent feature in the line-up under Klate and now under Mamilla as well, something that must be satisfying for you…
RP: Yes, very satisfying and (I’m) very grateful.
DF: The last campaign was your first back in the topflight after a three-season absence. Upon your return, did you find the league the same as you left it back with Ajax Cape Town?
RP: It definitely changed. Back then, the league was a lot slower and more controlled per se. It was more football-orientated than running-orientated. You would come up against players who would try and outsmart you rather than outrun you, if that makes sense. A coach once told me that football must always lead. Yes, you can get physically stronger and more athletic, although football must still come first.
DF: 2021/22 was also the season you made the most appearances of your career. Why have you struggled for consistency? RP: Like I mentioned earlier in the interview about grapes needing to be pressed and crushed to produce fine wine, I was struggling with the ‘pressing and the crushing.’ I struggled to find my identity and purpose in the football industry. I was bein g‘ controlled by the uncontrollables’, hence me not finding any consistency. Now since I’ve surrendered my life to Jesus and finding my identity and purpose in Him, I’ve come to find consistency in my football career. I’ve been playing 20+ games per season for the past seven seasons and I have to say that to God be the glory. Without Him, it wouldn’t be possible.
DF: Would you say that your time spent in the second tier was a case of one step back and two steps forward? RP: Yes. I feel my first stint in the PSL was an ‘act of prematurity’. And the danger of knowing what you’re called to do is acting prematurely. I knew I was called to play PSL football, to play at the highest level in South Africa, but I wasn’t ready to perform on a consistent level in the PSL that would honour the talent that God has given me. It was God’s plan to have me ‘hide away’ in the NFD for a few seasons, to then have me ‘released’ in the PSL later again, to release a renewed and matured Roscoe Pietersen… or a fine wine Roscoe Pietersen, like you said, ha, ha, ha!
DF: Let’s now talk about the team’s remarkable results of late, as you’ve now won four games on the trot, the first team to do so this season. It’s a club record to. As club captain, what would you say the secret has been behind these victories? RP: Belief and team unity. After our team display against AmaZulu FC, we started to believe that we can play an entertaining brand of football. The wins that followed then brought a strong sense of unity within the squad. You could see that unity, especially, in our win against Sekhukhune United.
DF: A lot of these victories came where the team has managed to get a solitary goal and thereafter remain defensively sou nd. How much work has been put into it as a defensive unit?
RP: There’s nothing specific that we’ve worked on defensively. We’ve worked on controlling the game with more ball possession, build-up play and to attack in a more controlled way. So, I’ll say working on our offence has helped us defensively as a unit.
DF: So much has been said about coach Morgan Mammila’s encouragement being key to that, and he mentioned it himself. As players, how have you responded to what the coach wants? RP: We’ve responded quite well. The results speak for themselves. Added to the encouragement, he also knows how to get the best out of the players. That’s just as key.
DF: From the outside, there seems to be a lot of noise about his credentials, although the results show that he knows what he is doing. Has this ever crept into the dressing room to affect you guys?
RP: No. I believe as long as the unity of the squad is strong, these kind of external factors won’t creep in and disrupt the unit. As a team, we just have to block out the noise and focus on our efforts to help the team performance, simple.
DF: The Chilli Boys showed their capability to challenging the big guns of South African football when the club made it to the final of the Nedbank Cup in 2020/21. What do you think needs to happen for you guys to be competitively wrestling with the big guns rather than being involved in relegation scrapheaps season in, season out?
RP: I mentioned a team culture built on constant principles and morals earlier in the interview. I believe that is what’s needed for us as a team to start pushing for higher positions on the league table and to start winning cups. Having the full support of the management and technical team at the club is also of importance to wanting to achieve success at the club.
DF: Lastly, you guys lost a couple of key players at the start of the season, but have also strengthened with a number of new recruits. Looking at the current squad, is there enough depth to carry the team through to the business end of the season, which has proven to be tricky for the Gqeberha-based outfit in the past?
RP: Our current squad is starting to build a strong bond of unity and brotherhood, a continuation of what we started last season, and that is great. It shows continuity and progress within the team culture. We are starting to know each other’s weaknesses and strengths as footballers and as humans, which is very important. We are starting to enjoy playing football with each other too, and this is what will carry us, the Chilli Boys, through the business end of the season.
DF: Roscoe, thank you for your time and all the best for the rest of the season.
RP: I appreciate the opportunity (of) speaking to you, Delmain. Take care.
Thank you and God bless.