Steering The Right Course

Pitso Mosimane has brought structure and stability to Mamelodi Sundowns – and his strategy is earning high praise

- Siyabonga Dzimbili

His job comes with high expectations. He might not be a doctor, a nurse or the president but he still faces quite a lot of pressure from South Africans.

And now that he’s been given four more years in the hot seat during an unprecedented time, it’s not going to get any easier.

He must make sure he can keep up a winning streak while the country battles a pandemic, which is no small feat.

As fans will know, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane’s contract has been extended after seven seasons with the team.

Mosimane (55) has won nine titles during his time steering the Chloorkop ship and he deserves the extension, those close to him tell us.

He’s taken Sundowns from a team that finished at the bottom half of the league in the 2012/2013 season to African champions in the Caf Super Cup in 2017.

This is why he’s seen as one of the best coaches on the continent.

His protégé, Daine Klate, has nothing but praise for Mosimane’s work ethic. He saw it clearly the first time he met the coach. “I was at the [Safa Transnet Football] School of Excellence and he had come to a coaching course where we used to demonstrate skills for the tutor,” Klate says.

“That was the first time I met coach Pitso and, just watching him during the lunch breaks, he was always drawing something, making notes.

“I remember he had so many papers with him that I asked myself, ‘Does he even know what goes where?’ But I think that was just the dedication and his commitment to learning and becoming a good coach.