Courageous Sundowns boss Pitso sets sights on Champions League
AWAY from the football pitch in the plush Park Hyatt Hotel in Rosebank on Monday, man of the moment Pitso Mosimane spoke passionately about the things he still wants to achieve as a coach.
One, Mosimane would love to coach Bafana Bafana again, but he makes it clear that he is not after Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba’s job because he is really enjoying life at Mamelodi Sundowns, where he’s won three trophies in as many seasons.
“I don’t think I finished well with my international career with Bafana. [But] This is not the right time to go to Bafana because they have a very good coach and they’re playing well. Look at how they played against Costa Rica and Angola away from home. I really hope this thing of chopping and changing coaches stops because we achieve nothing,” he says.
“I don’t think coaches are the problem. [Stuart] Baxter was sacked [as Bafana coach] and he went on to win the league [Absa Premiership]. I was sacked and I went on to win the league. Gordon [Igesund] was sacked and he won the Telkom [Knockout]. So is the problem the coaches? You tell me.” Mosimane went on: “So we need to keep Bra Shakes, but as you asked me, do I want to coach Bafana? Maybe yes in future because I did not finish well. I was in a difficult time of having seven draws, but seven draws was against top countries. They were not against Mozambique, Lesotho or Madagascar or Mauritius.
“I may be talking about coaching Bafana, but look at what is happening at Sundowns. I am so happy here. The players are responding, the board is supporting me and we are winning trophies.”
After a win over Jomo Cosmos in September, he was hailed as “our Sir Alex Ferguson” by some of the Sundowns fans and, like the retired manager who was adored at Old Trafford through the good and the bad, Mosimane is determined to sit in the hot seat for many years to come.
It rarely happens in South Africa that coaches are given many years to build a team strong enough to conquer all, but Mosimane seems to have that kind of support from the team management and he would love to pay them back by winning the Caf Champions League.
Call him crazy, but he believes he can achieve that goal in the coming year, with Sundowns set to compete in the continental club competition.
“I want to put the star on top of the badge and we think it’s possible next year. We have the mentality and we need to have a go [at it] again. We must always play in that space.
“I went to the Champions League group stages with [former club] SuperSport [United]. I had Daine Klate, Pa [Siboniso Gaxa] and Richard Rantjie. Those boys were young.
“Now I want to go back. If we put the star on the badge, then Sundowns should be ranked the top team in South Africa because we have [already] won the league six times. No one has done that. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
After failing in their attempt to sign Bidvest Wits attacking midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi, Sundowns cannot be ruled out of going for the star player again when the January transfer window opens. A player like Vilakazi would add value to their Champions League campaign.
“You know the players we want. But their teams don’t want to release them. We have made a request and they [Wits] said no. Wits called me to order for speaking publicly about Vilakazi. But whether a player is free or not, you have to speak to him. Who buys a player he hasn’t spoken to?
“You can’t tell me that when Wits signed Jabu Shongwe they did not speak to him before. You can’t tell me when they signed [Mozambican star midfielder Elias] Pelembe they did not speak to him before. And by the way, Wits spoke to Nyasha [Mushekwi] when he was still under contract. It’s a fact.”
While Sundowns fans were calling for Mosimane to leave early in the season, club president Patrice Motsepe backed him to turn things around. Mosimane revealed that Motsepe had a “magic chat” with the team after the 2-1 defeat to Golden Arrows in September.
“After the Arrows game, he told us that we played very well and ever since his talk we have not lost a game,” he said. “Maybe that was the turnaround. I call it the magic talk. You think he does not understand football? He understands.”
Motsepe can certainly be happy with what’s happening at the club, not just with the first team but the juniors as well. The under-15s, 17s and 19s have all won trophies this year and Mosimane has backed some of the young stars in the development structures, like national under-17 player Notha Ngcobo, to make a mark at the club in the near future.
The Brazilians are Nedbank Cup and Telkom Knockout champions and they are currently top of the Absa Premiership table. There’s certainly a lot to look forward to for Mosimane and his charges next year.
This is not the right time to go to Bafana because they’re playing well I want to put the [Caf Champions League] star on top of the badge, we think it’s possible