BN: Prof, congrats on signing for Cape Town City after a month training with them…
MM: Thank you, bhuti (bro). I am happy like any other person would be. It has been a good past month training with them and now that I have finally signed, I am happy. It was also good to see the positivity from the players and the technical team while I was still training with the team. They would always ask me, “Hey, when are you signing?” They really gave me strength to continue working hard at training and keep believing that I would get to sign. The coach and his technical team showed faith in me and I am grateful for that. I have joined the right team and I believe it is the right time as well. Hopefully everything will go well for me. I know I will improve and get better with the kind of coaching that I am getting. It is intriguing for me to be part of this club and I would like to believe that my stay here will be a memorable one!
BN: It certainly looks promising after scoring on debut against AmaZulu, even though you ended up losing.
MM: When the game was still on, I was happy that I helped the team with a goal, but of course, I was sad after the game with the result. I thought we could have at least salvaged a draw. But we have to soldier on and keep going.
BN: Speaking of joining the club, chairman John Comitis seemed to be reluctant to sign you, as he was quoted in the media saying that he had already signed Fagrie Lakay and therefore didn’t see the need to sign you. What changed his mind?
MM: I don’t know really. That was not said to me. I continued training and finally got to sign. What is important for me now is that I am part of the club and I am a Cape Town City player.
Bu hikaye Soccer Laduma dergisinin 9 October 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Soccer Laduma dergisinin 9 October 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
We have a problem
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They have the character
Cut Lehlohonolo Seema’s skin andhe’ll probably bleed green andwhite – such has been the man’s loyalty to Bloemfontein Celtic. Born and bred in neighbouring Lesotho, the Mangaung outfit is a club that’s always had a pull factor on him. So much that it is they who pulled him from obscure Bantu United from the mountainous kingdom in 1998, and he would go on to represent the club until 2006 when the allure of Orlando Pirates, understandably, proved too great a pull factor. Yet even a five-year spell with the Soweto giants, which included a season-long loan stint at Mpumalanga Black Aces, would not prevent him being pulled back in the direction of Siwelele, albeit to begin a coaching journey in the junior ranks. The next step was to become an assistant, a job he performed with aplomb, before being called on to take the hotseat together with John Maduka after the departure of Steve Komphela at the tail end of 2018. Much against general expectation, the duo has done fairly well, if Celtic’s off-field troubles of the recent past are to be taken into consideration. Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo sat down with Seema to discuss this, that, and the other.
They are on another level
Before signing for Mamelodi Sundowns last season,Lyle Lakay knew that he would be used as a leftback and not in his preferred left wing position, something that he surprisingly did not have a problem with. In his first season with the club last term, he played a key role as they went onto win an unprecedented ninth Absa Premiership league title. This season has been a bit of a slow one for Lakay, who has been used mostly as a substitute, but there’s still a lot of football to be played both locally and on the continent, so he has time to fight for his place in the starting line-up. In this interview, the former Cape Town City and Bloemfontein Celtic player chats to Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane about his time at the Tshwane giants so far, their chances of winning the CAF Champions League and why he believes they can close the gap on current Kaizer Chiefs, who have been in fine form since the start of the campaign.
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It Was Challenging
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He Is Not Personal
He may not be gettingregular game-timedomestically with Bidvest Wits, but attacking midfielder Gift Motupa is making a name for himself in this season’s CAF Confederation Cup. The 25-year-old player has bagged six goals in the campaign so far, inspiring the Clever Boys to the group stages of a CAF club competition for the first time in their history. It has not been the same in the domestic league though, with just one start so far and one goal. Having done so well in the Confederation Cup, he will no doubt be hoping that coach Gavin Hunt will give him more opportunities to play in the Absa Premiership as the Braamfontein-based outfit looks to challenge for the title. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane, Motupa expresses his excitement about qualifying for
That's Me Wherever I Go
As a coach, former Kaizer Chiefs striker Wedson Nyirenda prides himself on being blessed with the mentality of a winner. So much that when talking about his past achievements in the realm of coaching, you can almost never miss the sparkle in his eye, and often this trip down memory lane will be accompanied by a smile that tells a story of contentment and achievement. He has built up a reputation, across all three countries he has worked in, of turning socalled ordinary teams into respected outfits. He did it with Baroka FC, helping them to annex the 2018 Telkom Knockout trophy much against many people’s expectations. However, the going has since gotten tougher, and the Limpopo side is (still) struggling to score goals this season. What is going on? Is Nyirenda going to jump ship and go back to his previous role as Zambia national team coach, as the rumour mill seems to suggest? Nyirenda provides the answers in this chat with Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo.
