Former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is once again pleading with the frustrated Wydad Athletic Club fans to be patient with him and the new technical team.
Mokwena suffered his second Botala Pro 1 league defeat after a 2-0 away loss to Club Omnisports Meknés on Wednesday.
The defeat meant Mokwena has now won three, drew two, and lost the two other matches. They currently sit on number five with 11 points — three points behind log leaders RSB Berkane.
He understands the fans’ frustration
Speaking to the media after the match, Mokwena said he understood the frustration from the fans. But he emphasised that the team cannot perform miracles.
“I understand the frustration from the Wydad fans,” Mokoena said.
“It’s been two very difficult seasons. And people must understand that the players, the coaches, and the staff can’t come here and perform magic.
“The fans love this club, they will always love this club. They were born as Wydad fans, they live as Wydad fans, and they will die as Wydad fans.
“There are moments, of course, maybe for the last two seasons, that they don’t like their team as much as they love the club. And that’s what we are trying to work on. Trying to bring this connection with the fans where the fans can fall in love with the team again.
‘Doing the best we can’
“That is going to give us a lot of ups and downs for sure. But they must know that we work far too hard. If you could follow us you would know, that we don’t sleep, we’re trying to give this club the best that we can.
“For sure we will get things right but in difficult moments like this we need them. This is when we need our fans. Because they must understand where this club comes from, they know the pain that they felt last season. And even when there were a lot of changes with players and a lot of changes with coaches, things didn’t improve. So that’s not always the solution.
“I see it a lot, especially in Morocco, where coaches of the teams are a little bit tense. And I can see the body language that a lot of the coaches are afraid to lose.
“In difficult times we have to be a family like it says at the back of our shirt. And when you’re a family, we lose together. Because we cry together, we don’t eat when we don’t win, believe me.”
Mokwena’s next assignment will be at home against Berkana on Saturday night.
