Mokwena’s move to Wydad is a sign of bravery

IN THE world of football, where coaches are no more useful than disposable razors, Rhulani Mokwena accepting the Wydad Athletic Club coaching post is indicative of the young coach’s ambitious nature and bravery.

The Moroccan club’s coaching post has resembled a revolving door in recent times, with technical heads moving in and out faster than you can say “Wydad”.

It would appear Mokwena has signed a three-year contract, given the picture taken of him alongside a club official, with the two holding a Wydad jersey emblazoned “Mokwena 2027” aloft. Will he last that long? The smart money would be on a “No” bet. But stranger things have happened in this beautiful game of billions.

Of course, having the Moroccan giants on the CV is sure to embellish any coach’s CV. Wydad are three-time African champions. The team from Casablanca have been regular contenders for the premier club knockout competition title in recent years.

They were finalists in the inaugural eight-team African Football League (AFL) competition which Mokwena delivered to Chloorkop, remember?

And for them to see Mokwena as worthy of leading their fortunes speaks volumes of how highly rated the 37-year-old is on the continent. And you cannot deny that the ambitious coach joining them is somewhat of a step up in career – the fact that Sundowns have become a continental force themselves notwithstanding.

Many have praised the move as being good for South African football in that it shows that the rest of the continent values our input. Pitso Mosimane started it all by going to Al Ahly and Fadlu Davids is now at Simba in Tanzania, having been Josef Zinnbauer’s assistant at Raja Casablanca. Morena Ramoreboli ventured to Botswana.

And now there’s Mokwena at Wydad. No doubt the biggest win for the descendant of the famed Sono football family in this move is the fact that he would get to go to the Fifa Club World Cup that he so coveted and which he helped Sundowns qualify for by leading them to the CAF Champions League semi-final.

Being fired at Sundowns following a butting of heads with Danish technical director Flemming Berg had robbed him of the opportunity to test himself against some of the world’s top coaches that he so admires. He is going to do that now. What he will not get to do, unfortunately, is to challenge for the continental top prize – at least not this coming season.

Wydad finished in sixth place with 44 points, way behind Raja who won the league with 72 points. Because of that, they will not play in the Champions League or the Confederation Cup. This could be a blessing for Mokwena, who will be able to focus solely on winning the league title in his first season and then go for a continental assault next season.

He will have to impress from the onset, though, because at Wydad contracts are not worth the paper they are written on, as evidenced by their going through no fewer than six coaches since the beginning of last year. Mokwena is the seventh to lead the record Moroccan champions, with only one of his six predecessors having stayed the duration of their contract – Aziz Ben Askar was contracted from April until the end of the season now in June.

The trigger-happy management at Wydad saw to it that Mehdi Nafti lasted one month in charge (January to February 2023), Juan Carlos Garrido just under three months, while Sven Vandenbroeck coached for two months and was let go after failing to deliver the Champions League, having reached the final.

Adil Ramzi was fired for a poor start to the previous CAF Champions League campaign that saw the club win just one of their three matches and was replaced by Faouzi Benzarti who quit two months in. A former Champions League and CAF Super Cup winner with Wydad, Benzarti resigned following a 3-1 loss to JS Soualem – their fifth successive defeat in 10 matches.

It is one of the hottest coaching seats in African football and while he is no doubt worthy of it, Mokwena faces the biggest test of his short yet successful coaching career. Pass that, last the entire contract, and the young man will establish himself as a continental super coach. And who knows, the European football he so covets might come calling.