Manqoba Mngqithi was handed the Mamelodi Sundowns head coach’s baton and barely lasted half a season. Photo: BackpagePix
Comment by Herman Gibbs
When Manqoba Mngqithi was promoted from being Mamelodi Sundowns’ senior coach to head coach, the club’s hierarchy regarded him as the messiah in the wake of the team’s dramatic fall from grace.
At the end of last season, the Rulani Mokwena-coached Sundowns saw their dream invincible season shattered after suffering a 1-0 defeat against Cape Town City on home turf at Loftus Versfeld on May 25.
Sundowns were unbeaten after 29 league matches and were looking to cap off the first-ever ‘invincible’ campaign in South Africa’s top-flight. Alas, the invincible tag evaporated into the Loftus air.
To add insult to injury, Masandawana suffered defeat a week later, losing 2-1 to Orlando Pirates in a tense Nedbank Cup final clash (on 1 June).
In both instances, Sundowns fielded vastly superior teams, and the bulk of their side formed the backbone of the high-riding Bafana Bafana.
There was no knee-jerk reaction from Sundowns’ bigwigs, but a month later, they showed Mokwena the exit door.
It was not unexpected, considering the team’s failures on top of Sundowns’ Champions League’s demise after suffering back-to-back defeats in the two-legged semi-final round to Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
The Tunisian club, four-time CAF Champion League champions, were coached by Portuguese mentor Miguel Cardoso.
Mngqithi was handed the head coach’s baton and barely lasted half a season.
He was overcome by the trials and tribulations of being the head coach who was handed one of the strongest playing squads on the continent.
With the crème de la crème of players at his disposal and a strong supporting technical team, he was off to a stuttering start and never managed to recover.
He oversaw 19 matches and managed 13 wins, two draws and four losses, which were his undoing.
The four defeats started with back-to-back reverses to an untried Stellenbosch FC combination, who were stripped of their best players in the pre-season transfer window.
Then followed the league defeat to little-known Polokwane City, and the ultimate humiliation of losing to newly promoted Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout final late last month.
At the time, Magesi were in 15th place in the 16-team Premiership.
Mngqithi contributed to his downfall through poor player management and his inflated ego.
He sidelined key players Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau for a few weeks without explanation.
Instead, he spoke about his ability to make tough calls: “One thing you must know about me is I am capable of making decisive decisions – that’s one thing I am good at.”
Off the pitch, Mngqithi did not endear himself to the media.
When asked a question he was uncomfortable with, he would dismiss it with a stock answer: “Next question please”.
This was far worse than Mokwena’s trademark post-match answer when asked for comment on the match: “I want to thank the club, the chairman, the fans ...” It was his way of avoiding the question.
Mngqithi became far too big for his shoes when he questioned the concerns of Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who raised the matter of not playing Mokoena and Mudau.
He felt their inactivity impacted their match fitness while on Bafana Bafana duty.
Mngqithi fired an uncalled-for salvo: “Broos must manage his house, and I will manage my house.”
As it turned out, Mngqithi didn’t manage his house very well, and now finds himself in the PSL wilderness.