Sundowns coaching ‘restructure’ was inevitable
Cape Town – Mamelodi Sundowns unsurprisingly announced a “restructuring of technical team” in a statement issued on Monday.
The announcement came on the back of Masandawana’s 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Orlando Pirates in the MTN 8 last weekend. While Sundowns cannot really be expected to win every trophy on offer year after year, the manner in which they were outplayed and outsmarted by Jose Riveiro’s side showed that they are arguably at the weakest that they have been in for years.
As part of Downs’ new arrangement, Rhulani Mokwena will be head coach, Steve Komphela first team coach while Manqoba Mngqithi will act as the senior coach, taking over the position that was previously held by Komphela.
Goalkeeper coach Wendell Robinson will stay in his position.
“These changes were necessitated by the poor performances and unconvincing victories that the club has experienced for quite some time. Mamelodi Sundowns has a clear objective of becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and its recent average and lacklustre performances are contrary to this objective,” read the statement.
Mamelodi Sundowns announced today the restructuring of its Technical Team and the changes in the responsibilities and employment positions of its coaches: Manqoba Mngqithi, Rulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela.
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) October 24, 2022
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Sundowns continue to lead the league standings with two games in hand over nearest rivals Richards Bay. They will be favourites to win yet another league title, especially as none of the other clubs are really anything out of the ordinary.
However, if Downs continue to play at the current rate that they are playing, they will not really be in contention to win a first CAF Champions League title since 2016.
The reality is that “co-coach” situations such as the one Sundowns used following the departure of Pitso Mosimane in 2020 can only work temporarily. The reason Downs managed to use it successfully for nearly two years is that they were continuously winning, which would have limited the need for hard conversations and conflict resolution.
The arrangements become unsustainable and problematic when results go pear-shaped. It is human nature for people to blame others besides themselves when things go wrong and for disagreements to occur when results are not good.
If Sundowns want to repair their results and develop a clearer vision in this testing time for them, making hard decisions over the strategic thinking set-up at the club is a step in the right direction.
@EshlinV