Johannesburg — Steve Komphela has expressed disappointment at the general reaction to the appointment of Molefi Ntseki as Kaizer Chiefs coach and has called on South Africans to “trust in your own”.
Like his Free State homeboy Ntseki, Komphela has just been given the difficult task of reviving the fortunes of a similarly fallen Soweto giant in Swallows FC.
Speaking to IOL Sport on Monday, the man who previously coached Chiefs lamented the negativity with which many met Ntseki’s elevation to the Amakhosi hotseat.
“It has been very disappointing, especially what was said by some high-profile people who you’d think would be supportive of our course,” he said in reference to former Chiefs and Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe’s view that Ntseki and Chiefs were a “mismatch“.
“A friend of mine was saying the other day that we have the challenge of ‘where has he been’ syndrome. There is this tendency to say someone is not ready because he has not done anything yet.”
It wouldn’t be Komphela without the philosophical quip and he went that route to illustrate his point.
“When (Nelson) Mandela got out of prison to become our president, he had no experience. But we did not go out there and bring in the likes of Jacques Chirac or Mikhael Gorbachev to lead us so that Mandela can learn from them, did we? So the same goes with coaching. All these coaches have come from nowhere to be where they are.”
Not that Ntseki is from nowhere because he has been at Chiefs for a while now having also coached at the highest level in the country as Bafana coach.
He called for a new mentality among those involved in the game.
“There has to be a paradigm shift. We go nowhere because we don’t give the locals a chance. Look at how Morocco and Senegal are empowering their own and the success they are enjoying. Of course, we are not Xenophobic and saying don’t hire non-South Africans. But let’s not be anti local, please. Yes let’s think global, but we must trust in our own.”
He is delighted that Swallows have trusted in him and given him a one-year contract and has intentions to make an impressive mark so that he will get it extended.
“It is an exciting project and though it might seem like one year is not enough, the challenge for me is to complete the year with aplomb so that they extend it.
“The challenge with a long-term contract is that it fills you with hope that you have a job but we all know that even a ten year contract can end after just a year. A short term on the other hand says you don’t have a job so pull off a miracle.”
Ntseki’s appointment said nothing about a contract and no doubt his friend will advise him to pull out all stops to shine in the next season so that he not only earns an extension, but also silences his critics.
IOL Sport