I trusted him, but…

Phikolomzi Kefile was a strong midfield man who came all the way from the Eastern Cape and called Goolam Allie’s Santos his home for three years. Just as it was a challenge for footballers from the Mother City to make it elsewhere, especially in Gauteng,

it was equally not an easy feat for an outsider to walk into a Cape team and play ahead of local-born players, and that he slotted in like a hand in glove was testament of his ability. But sadly the now 38-yearold’s career ended before it could blossom. Until now, what many

didn’t know is that an unfulfilled promise landed a fatal blow to his playing career. What really happened? How does Kefile feel about it? And what is he up to these days? Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina gets the answers straight from the horse’s mouth, in this interview.

Thomas Kwenaite: What’s the magic formula that you’ve applied at Chippa United?

Morgan Mammila: In truth, there is no formula at all. I asked these boys to play according to their strengths. Those that are able to hold the ball must do so and those that are capable of pushing forward must apply that strategy. Those that want to dribble must do so but do it with discipline and with a clear understanding that they have cover in case something goes wrong. But the formula to win in football is that you must ensure that you disrespect your opponent. You disrespect your opponent by keeping possession while he chases the ball. If you do that, they (opponents) will no longer play with the spirit of the game. They lose focus and start to play with anger. In addition, they get exhausted because they are forever chasing the ball. If a person is exhausted, he does not make right decisions.

TK: Four wins out of four – unprecedented stuff…

MM:

It is because the boys are free. They play according to their true potential and abilities. I don’t ask them to do things they cannot perform. I know their strengths and hence sometimes you see that one can perform this trick and the other something else. I mix their collective strengths because a team of stars sometimes is a problem as they all want to shine. The reality is that they can’t all be stars. When there are two or three players that are not blessed in the shoe-shuffle category, but are hard-working, they complement the team and give it balance.

TK: You recently beat Sekhukhune United. How was that achieved?

MM: I told them that Sekhukhune rely on the second ball, and they had studied us and were confident that we would commence our build-ups from the back, which is what we usually do. But we deviated from our normal approach and instead started our build-up just beyond the Sekhukhune pressing area. They press you and once they gain possession, they race for goals. But

we said no, let them play their normal game and let’s play behind their press area. When they realised that we had changed our tactics, they were forced to play high, and when they went high, we went low. We put it down and because they had committed numbers forward, we exposed them. We capitalized on the second ball, hence we went to them with three defensive midfielders to boss the centre of the park.

TK: In the previous match, you had defeated Kaizer Chiefs.

MM:

Chiefs have a very strong attack. I asked them not to hurry – that was the major thing we needed to achieve first before we could score. Firstly, we wanted to play in our half. Why? We have numbers in our half. When we play around in our half, remember Chiefs is a huge brand. Their players are also under the impression that they are of a high calibre compared to our players. So, when you take the mickey out of them, passing the ball without them touching it, you reduce them to a laughing stock of the entire country. And when you make a fool of someone, he unconsciously develops a grudge. When someone plays with a grudge, his decision-making becomes poor. He does not make correct decisions, hence you saw how they constantly missed the target because they were just kicking from almost impossible positions. Why? Because they were making emotional decisions. We wanted to let the opponent know that we could play better than them.

TK: What do you require from your players when they enter the field?

MM: I want every player to enjoy the game. If a player enjoys the game, he will give you what you want. If he

doesn’t enjoy, it’s not possible to give you what you want. I want my players to enjoy training first because if you didn’t enjoy training, you won’t enjoy the actual match. Everything that we

do starts at training. For instance, when we prepare to play Cape Town City, we do a video session with them and I tell them that, “This is how I want you to play City.” Therefore, we train the way we would play against City.

TK: Is it true you told the team prior to the match against Marumo Gallants that you want them to play like Manchester City?

MM:

I said if they want to enjoy football and aspire to gain respect, they must score a goal similar to Manchester City, where they can pass each other the ball even in a compact area and do so without fear. I didn’t demand delivery at the match – no, Sir! We trained that movement and prepared throughout the week, practicing, and it happened just the way we had trained. If you watch Siphelele Luthuli, he’s got his own position. When we attack, he stealthily

comes from deep inside but remains behind the attackers. We call him Matsatsela (The sly one). That is the role we assigned him and even in the thick of things, the rest of the players are consciously aware that Luthuli is around and will pick on every scrap of morsel that falls his way.

TK: Why did you decide to get involved in coaching, as we know you as an administrator?

MM:

When I looked at the club and observed the chairman (Siviwe Mpengesi), I was able to detect from just looking at him what he wanted. I just felt that I could hand him what he wanted. In reality, he wants a team that plays the kind of football that is pleasing to the eye. Even if they lose, they must play a disbeautiful tinctively style of football – that’s what he wants. Footmething ball is so to enjoy and when you fail to please the people and to enjoy yourself, you cannot win matches. When you dominate, chances of winning a match are plenty. In 10 matches, you can maybe win five, draw one and lose four. That is a passBut ing mark. if you play finder-finder or the kind of football described as skiet en donder and hope for the best, you can end up winning only three matches the whole season.

TK: How do you respond to remarks attributed to Walter Rautmann, that you are taking chances as a coach?

MM: This luck … am I the only one it is embracing? Did the Almighty God decide to shower His love to only me and not to any of the 15 teams’ coaches that have failed to win four games in succession? No, man, Rautmann is an elderly person. He has been in football forever. He used to coach teams fighting to survive relegation. Maybe you can enlighten me, but I don’t remember him winning a cup competition or a league championship. So, Rautmann must just keep quiet

and only people that have won the league or cup competitions must talk, certainly not him. Those people that have won competitions are the ones that we must listen to, not those that attained fame by fighting relegation. I’m not a coach that fights relegation. People have been relegating teams and he never commented that they were taking chances, why me? If God has given him the wisdom to fight relegation, he must embrace that gift and leave us alone. God did not give some of us the knowledge to fight relegation, but He gave us the wisdom to fight for the Top Eight.

TK: What are you planning to do when the league takes a break during the Qatar World Cup? MM: Players are young, others have families, others have their own families and it is time to give them a break to see their families and the younger ones to visit their parents. They must rekindle that family spirit and receive blessings from their parents. In addition, the body gets a hammering and needs rest. But we will give them programmes to follow while they are on a break. Technology has advanced too much these days, but everyone will be required to follow a uniform programme at their respective homes and will be required to send proof afterwards that they had been following the given programme diligently.

TK: How did your previous job as a police investigative officer enhance your coaching skills? MM:

As an investigating officer, you work with different people and at times in different circumstances, and this trains you to always be two steps ahead of people you are investigating. Sometimes you investigate someone that thinks they are smarter than you. Usually, I would set a trap for such a person. As a coach, you come across players from different backgrounds and must devise ways and means of managing them correctly. But when you face the opposition, you must stay one step ahead of them and at times set a trap for them.

TK: Word around town has it that you expressed a wish to coach Bafana Bafana one day.

MM:

I’m crying … If a person is 65 years (old), in my culture that person is regarded as a grandfather and qualifies to sit under a morula tree at home and enjoy his pension. Now I’m amazed and truly surprised that such a huge and beautiful country as ours, with a population of over 60 million, went on to recru it someone they say is 70 years old. Lord have mercy on us, an old man they say is here to help the nation? Can we, as the youth of this country, trust someone who is a pensioner and hope that he is cleverer than us and hand him the mandate to handle our national affairs? What are we saying?

TK: Hmmm. Thank you so much and good luck! MM: You are most welcome. ❐

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hing the final

great things lu. I am loving he club, but in

football you have to be successful on the pitch. AmaZulu have to win trophies, they have to be competitive. It’s a bit of a joke that a club of that size has not won a trophy for 30 years. Getting to the final is a great thing, but nobody remembers who finishes second. You get to a final, you’ve got to do everything to win that game. It doesn’t even matter how you play. The performance is not important, it’s the result that matters. I am praying and using all my lucky charms because

AmaZulu need to win.”

On the current generation making history

“The cool thing is that this generation of players can make a name for themselves. Just because of that Coca Cola Cup success in 1992, there are guys who have somewhat become AmaZulu legends. I don’t

think I am a legend, but you can become legendary with one result, by winning a cup final. We beat Chiefs in the final and now the current generation is going to play against Pirates. They will all become household names amongst AmaZulu supporters. It would be a great thing for them. Another thing is that during that 1992 success, we struggled in the league. But it was on the back of that an v c ory an cup win that, the following season, we had a great season. We came third in the league behind (Mamelodi) Sundowns and (Moroka) Swallows. It was like that cup win gave us a lot of confidence. It could be the same with this squad. If they go on and win the trophy, it could give them confidence to challenge for the (league) title. I know they came close under Benni (McCarthy). AmaZulu should consistently be chasing for the title because the club is in good

hands.”

On Chiefs & Pirates ‘rejects’ redeeming themselves

“What I like is that they say one man’s rubbish can become another man’s treasure. When you go through that squad, you will see what we can say are Pirates and Chiefs rejects. I’ve got a lot of friends who played for Chiefs and some of them will tell you that playing for Chiefs is not for everyone. It’s the same with Pirates. It’s not that you are not a good player, it just might mean you don’t

adjust to playing with that pressure. There’s pressure every week when you play for Chiefs and Pirates. So, some of those guys who are so called rejects, I think they are fantastic

players. Now they get a chance, with a little bit less pressure, to go show their former club what they can do. AmaZulu players don’t have pressure. Maybe they have the pressure of winning their first trophy in 30 years, but there’s much more pressure on the Pirates players.”

Where Usuthu can hurt Bucs

“Pirates have been playing some good football. What I worry about Pirates is that they almost always rely on one or two individuals to pitch up and play well to get the team out of trouble. It’s got to be a team game. You need everyone to be playing at a decent level to get consistent results and that’s Pirates’ weakness – the inconsistency. They didn’t pitch up against Chiefs, so for AmaZulu to win the game, the squad has to get a minimum 7/10 type of performance. You can’t afford for one player to have an off day. And that might not still be enough, but if Pirates are inconsistent or they have one or two players who just don’t pitch up, then of course you can get a result.”