It’s so refreshing hearing Pitso Mosimane on a podium of late, with his most recent remarks coming after his back-to-back Coach of the Month awards for January and February in the Absa Premier League.
The Mamelodi Sundowns mentor does not only wax lyrical about his changed attitude since his tense Bafana Bafana days, but how he has become a master of self-discipline rather than a loud mouth in the media.
Mosimane, a man chasing the treble this season having already won the Telkom Knockout trophy, sitting pretty at the top of the log standings and into the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup, is so mellow these days he puts a puppy to shame.
“I have learned my lesson. I will never speak against any referee,” the Brazilians' coach told hacks at the PSL offices, where he was collecting his accolade earlier this week.
“I will never fight with anyone. I have never seen a coach who wins against media and supporters. Show me one. Even (Jose) Mourinho couldn’t win against them.”
That is a sober mind, compared to the good old days when he was the national team coach and informed everyone - through the press - that he was one of the best coaches on the continent and should be left alone to do his job.
Another man has taken over blowing that annoying trumpet, and Mosimane drops hints now and again that this gentleman is on a hiding to nothing.
You guessed it. Shakes Mashaba this week became the No.1 accused in the Kamohelo Mokotjo case. The midfielder ‘retired’ from Bafana simply because the coach thinks he is no good.
Granted, the pressures of club football is incomparable to that of being in the national team hot seat, but there is a reason to argue that Mosimane’s man-management skills can come in handy for grandpa Mashaba.
The Sundowns squad is laden with top foreign and home-grown players desperate for game time each week, which is almost impossible given the quality in that team.
But so far there have been few outbursts from these fringe players and Mosimane appears to have handled the Lebohang Mokoena situation with aplomb.
Not so long ago - when the January transfer window was open - “Cheeseboy” said in no uncertain terms he wants out due to a lack of game time.
What did Mosimane do? The coach stroked the 29-year-old’s ego by praising him after a rare cameo and seemingly sympathising with his plight.
Mokoena might still seek greener pastures at the end of the season for guaranteed minutes on the pitch, but you can’t ignore how Mosimane played this one out to keep the player loyal even if it is just until the end of the season in May, when he might even walk away with a league title and Nedbank Cup medal.
Mashaba, on the other hand, has made a mess of things with this Mokotjo conundrum, calling him “heavy” and “sluggish” in September 2014 prior to his first match in charge as Bafana coach.
Then he omitted him from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squad in Equatorial Guinea, finding a place in the team for an out-of-sorts Thamsanqa Sangweni instead.
Just last week, Mashaba made it clear that, as far as he was concerned, Mokotjo, who is one of the first names on the team sheet for Dutch side FC Twente in the Eredivisie, was no better than Bafana’s locally based contingent.
I give up.
Yes, Mosimane admits he might still be the national team coach if he had chosen his words more carefully, but he has been kind enough to warn Mashaba.
However, the 65-year-old former defender is yet to heed these free-of-charge pearls of wisdom from a man who just about lost his mind while he was in the same position between July 2010 and June 2012.
It’s not too late to mend your ways, Bra Shakes. – Saturday Star