Renowned development and PSL coach Cavin Johnson has offered an important message on how to handle the rise of Mamelodi Sundowns' young sensation Siyabonga Mabena.
The news in the football fraternity this week has been about the 16-year-old wonderkid who was given his official debut by Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena in the 5-1 win for the defending champions against Royal AM on Tuesday.
The grade 10 student was 16 years and 24 days when he came on for veteran attacker, Themba Zwane, in the last 15 minutes at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Mabena was recruited from the School of Excellence by the Brazilians.
While applauding Mokwena for the introduction of the talented youngster to professional football, Johnson advised that caution should be exercised in dealing with his rise to stardom to guard against overhyping him.
Thrown In Deep End
"Look, I don't think this is only happening now. It has been happening for a long time. If you ask who the youngest player was to score a goal in the PSL, you would find that it was Mkhanyiseli Siwahla during his time with Ajax Cape Town. He scored his goal at 15 years old. But what Rulani is doing should be commended. Yes, he is changing the mentality but let's not forget that the mentality has been there long ago. The problem is that there has been no consistency," said Johnson, speaking to the Siya crew.
Rulani Mastering Modern Management
"I applaud Rulani in what he is doing and we do know that Sundowns probably has a very good academy. How they promote players and how they mix them with the senior players is very important. Has he (Mokwena) got it right? We don't know. Nobody can say. Do you know why? Rulani is winning the league and is in a very good space. It seems to me now that everything that Rulani touches turns into a win and I'm very happy for him and I'm very happy for Sundowns that they are able to do that," said Johnson.
The Good
"The best way to handle the situation would be for the boy to say nothing in the media until he is 19. The only thing he has to do for now is to just play football. Everything that is spoken about of him should be spoken through his club and not him and not his parents. When you look at the big stars… Phil Foden is now a regular at Manchester City, Ryan Giggs was a regular and became a big legend at Manchester United and Steven Pienaar was a big legend at Ajax Cape Town. Were they in the papers? No! The moment you are on TV and radio and doing interviews all the time, people will think you've got money. That's how people think. It's not about having lots of money but building a career and what needs to be done is for these kids to be kept away from the media spotlight and all the distractions. It is also very important for clubs to teach these youngsters about handling TV interviews and so on," the coach added.
The Bad
"The main thing for me with all of this is that there should be consistency. There should be consistency for all the clubs in the PSL. Right now, everyone is talking about one player and you ask yourself when last did a 16-year-old play in the PSL. That's when we can talk about development," said Johnson.
The Ugly
"You are all writing about this boy, and what happens to his head after? The head goes 25 times bigger than it is now and yet he played only 15 minutes in the PSL. What happens when the boy gets big-headed and not controllable by the coach anymore?" the coach warned.
Summary
With the spotlight on Mabena to make progress at Downs and to follow in the steps of the likes of Cassius Mailula and other stars who did so before him, the bigger picture is that his success in Chloorkop will also benefit South African football as he can contribute to the progress of the national team.
Overseas Should Be The Target
Over the years, talented players have come through the youth ranks to become superstars in the PSL but one thing that has been lacking is consistency in sending them to big clubs overseas and one would hope that the Brazilians will look to nurture Mabena for his talent to be also exposed to some of the top European leagues.
