The advent of social media has taught us so much about South African football followers. They are as fickle as the rand and as erratic as Donald Trump shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
When Mamelodi Sundowns were dominating the local football scene and winning just about each and every match, week in and week out, the hate rivals fans displayed on the Brazilians’ coach Rulani Mokwena was piling up.
They called him all sorts of names and said that he was a copycat who likened himself and imitated them– not that they were far off.
After matches, funny touchline memes would be unleashed of Mokwena’s mannerisms, gesticulations, overreactions, antics which were strikingly similar to those of the former Barcelona coach.
He even upgraded his wardrobe with some of the finest and trendiest threads. You see, Guardiolla is hailed as one of the best dressed football personalities in the world…well, after David Beckham, of course. And so, Mokwena needed to step up, in order to catch up.
But where did the hate all come from, one may ask? Just like his predecessor Pitso Mosimane, the SA football followers hated him for speaking the truth and being confident in himself and his abilities. The fact that he was only 37 years, and the youngest coach in the PSL, made them even more vile.
In SA, confidence is easily mistaken for arrogance and the pull-him-down (PhD) syndrome can be sickening. The PhD visited on our own when they get successful is just on another level.
The fans even went as far as saying that Mokwena just jumped onto Mosimane’s already parked Ferrari and all he needed to do was just to drive off victoriously into the sunset.
And when we were all caught off-sides after Sundowns fired him, one could never be sure if it was real pity or relief that reverberated around the country.
Suddenly they felt empathy for Mokwena – but they did not want him when he was still there. Nonetheless, Mokwena has been handed a lifeline to prove the doubting Thomases wrong that he is a good coach and that he can be able to lift a club from the abyss and take it back to its glory days.
The Wydad Athletic assignment is a massive project – one that could make or break the young lad. In SA, we have been doing this for many years now, calling foreign coaches plumbers, the boot could be on the other foot now, our coaches could be called plumbers as well abroad.
But Mokwena’s ambition and hunger to succeed surpasses his misgivings and doubt. It is an assignment that can launch his international coaching career and perch him among the crème de la crème of African coaches like Mosimane, Florent Ibenge, Aliou Cisse, Walid Regragui, Lamine N’Diaye and the late Stephen Keshi, to mention but a few.
He may need to put his pride aside and approach his former mentor Mosimane for some advice on the rough terrain he is about to embark on. Mosimane has been in those Sahara Desert trenches and can teach his protege a trick or two.
Mokwena can do it; he has the brain, the will and the tools. He will just need to choose his technical team diligently, meticulously, have his wits about him and be aware of his surroundings, always.
The entire country is hoping and banking that he succeeds in Morocco because his achievements may just open more doors for SA coaches up in the continent.
