Quiet man gets the job done

MASUTHA WAS FIRST GIVEN HIS BREAK BY KOSTA PAPIC AND IT ALL TOOK OFF

Joel Masutha is not a man for the spotlight. In fact the 46-year-old Black Leopards coach is shy and very soft-spoken. He is the kind who likes to let his work do the talking. But because of the work he does, he has to give media interviews and the things he says sometimes become instant quotable quotes. One such recent quote was when he was asked if he feared for his job after the team had lost to Golden Arrows.

“I don’t worry about that. If someone like (Jose) Mourinho can be fired then who am I? I don’t even think about it,” he said. He is however too humble to compare himself to Mourinho and said he still has a long way to go and a lot to achieve before he can at least say his coaching career has been a success. Masutha has been in charge of Lidoda Duvha for just over a year. He was summoned to rescue the team last year when things were not going too well in the National First Division at the time.

“The team were 13th and morale was really low. Everyone was worried and the main task was to ensure we didn’t drop down to the ABC Motsepe League. That is how bad it was.

“But I found players there whom I had worked with before and some I had discovered. There were the likes of (Karabo) Tsepe, (Meshack) Maphangule; (Marks) Munyai and others. I knew their capabilities and Maphangule was not even playing at the time. I sat down with each player and made them believe again,” he explained.

And the results are there for everyone to see – Leopards were able to climb up the standings and finished second to eventual winners Highlands Park. They then made it through the play-offs where they played Jomo Cosmos and Platinum Stars.

Besides this achievement, Masutha still remains humble and said it was because of his players and not his tactical acumen alone.

He told Phakaaathi his transition into coaching at Leopards happened by accident. “I had planned to be a coach when I retired. But I wanted to start from the bottom and work my way up. I wanted to go to the lower leagues…

“When Bibey Mutombo and his technical team arrived, he didn’t have a goalkeeping coach so he asked me to take charge of preparing them. When he left, the guy who came in also used me in the same position. But it was Kosta Papic who gave me a real break as he wanted me as an assistant rather than just a goalkeeping coach.

“I learnt a lot from him. When he left Leopards, he took me with to every team he went to for five years. He taught me the importance of man-management skills. He told me to always shield my players from pressure. That is why I don’t shout at players but rather sit them down and try to understand their difficulties if results are not favourable,” he said.

After eight matches in the top flight, Leopards are 12th with eight points – they have won two, drawn two and lost four. But this is no cause for concern, said Masutha.

“To go from the NFD to this level is a big ask. It takes time to adjust. Sometimes before you start playing you think you have a good team. But the boys have done quite well although we still need to adapt more on some aspects,” he said.

Masutha’s next assignment is a Telkom Knockout last-16 fixture against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Sunday afternoon and he said his team will give everything.

“We will go out there and enjoy the moment. We will go there wanting to win but the main thing will be for our players to enjoy the experience and give their all against a team who play very good football.

“Chiefs are a household name and every player wants to shine against them. It’s always a humdinger when we play them. We will give them a game that people will be talking about for a long time to come,” said Masutha.

Chiefs are a household name. Every player wants to shine against them.