Daine Klate got first-hand experience of how topflight, and indeed Chippa United, coaching can deal one a bad hand. After all, it's football's most thankless job that one of the most decorated stars to have graced Mzansi fields in the PSL era chose to take up as a career after his playing days were over. Siviwe Mpengesi's proverbial axe knows no limitations. Since his sacking from the Chilli Boys after a defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in September last year, the ex-winger is yet to make a return to the touchline… at least in the top division. Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane had this face-to-face interview with the Gqeberha-born man as he opens up on the one individual he will never work with in future, moving back home to switch on the 'Reset' button and his latest grassroots project.
Tshepang Mailwane: Daine, what have you been up to lately?
Daine Klate: I'm in Jo'burg. I moved back to Jo'burg in January from PE (Port Elizabeth, officially known as Gqeberha). I spent some time with friends and family for the past, I think, three-four years. It was all about resetting myself. Obviously, the opportunity with Chippa (United) came up and I felt that while I was doing my coaching badges, it was the perfect environment to be in, in terms of getting a bit of experience in the coaching field, especially in the Diski (Challenge) league, which I enjoyed. I had two stints there, but the most important part is that I was with my family, and I just needed that, to press the 'Reset' button. I was in Jo'burg for 19 years, playing 16 seasons and being at the School of Excellence and being in the SuperSport (United) academy, so being away for that long was a big sacrifice for me. Spending time in PE helped me a lot in terms of doing things that I love, which is camping and fishing, which I grew up with. I'm back in Joburg, refreshed and ready to go again.
TM: What are you planning on doing in Jozi?
DK: I'm still busy with my UEFA A Licence. I'm on Part 2 of that, so hopefully I can continue with that. I still need to get confirmation to go back now in the off-season again, to complete the A Licence practical, and then the plan is to get the Pro Licence as well. But I'm already working on a grassroots football programme. I'm looking at starting my own soccer schools, for age five to 12. I think that's a space we need to be in. We talk about teaching youngsters good habits from a very early age and I think there is a lack thereof in terms of grassroots football. So, I think that's where I find myself now. In future, you want to progress and have other ambitions, but I think for now the most important thing is to learn as much as I can and complete my (coaching) badges as soon as I can. From there, I'll gain experience in the coaching field and take it from there.
TM: Does that mean you're in no rush to get back to coaching in the PSL?
DK: There is absolutely no rush. I think everything happens for a reason and whatever is meant for me will be. The reason I'm starting this is because you need something for yourself. Starting my own soccer schools is something that is close to my heart, so it becomes a little bit of coaching, a little bit of a business… you must employ people and do some administration. So, holistically it's good for me and it's to have something to fall back on to. If you are in a coaching environment and, for whatever reason, you lose that coaching job, there is always something to fall back on to. I'm hoping I can create that for myself and then get to choose whatever jobs come along. I have a lot to give to the game and I really want to give to the game. I'm a servant of the game, so it's about following the process and going through all the levels.
TM: So, how does the soccer schools work?
DK: There are quite a few around. I want to start the Daine Klate Soccer Schools. I already have everything registered and we are busy setting up the website now and we are looking at having it in Fourways. That's a start, and if it does well, you can always go to other places and open branches. But I think the most important one is the first one in Fourways and making the business concept work and working with people who are going to make it a success.
TM: Do you have well-known people in football currently helping you?
DK: I've been in contact with a lot of people. I spoke to coach Pitso (Mosimane) and he started something similar with Curro. That's the space I'm in now. I know coach Pitso is looking for coaches and I think that's where I can come in and recruit a couple of coaches who are doing well and need employment. Whatever we do, we are always looking out for other people as well. As much as we are looking out for ourselves in this game, you must bring everybody up with you. I've got fantastic people around me. I've got coach Gavin Hunt with me whenever I need a helping hand or advice. He is always there for me, as well as former players. Ricardo Katza is in that space doing school football. There is a lot of help around and hopefully we can get people who are not so well-known to come in and become coaches. It will augur well for grassroots football.
TM: What was the Chippa experience like?
experience like?
DK: It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Look, I was approached to be an assistant to coach Norman Mapeza back then when he was coach and Clinton Larsen had just left, but I declined that. I tried to stay clear of the first team. I built myself up in the Diski Challenge side. The first stint lasted six months and then I was let go of, and then coach Gavin came and then I got back into the Diski team again and we ended up fourth and we made the semi-finals of the Diski Shield and that has not happened again since we left, myself and coach Bruce July. The team has gone back to being last on the log. I think it was a successful stint and me joining the first team was purely because I was doing well with the Diski team. I felt that at that point in time, it was time to give it a shot in the PSL, which I did. I did that knowing what the outcome would be and how the club behaves. I did not go in there not knowing what was going to happen. But the most important thing for me was going in there and giving the youngsters a chance and getting the youngsters contracts. Most of the Diski boys are still on contracts today. That was my whole philosophy and my aim of getting there. I was never going to win the league with them or achieve those type of milestones that I did with other teams (as a player) because of the way things operate over there. But I think it was job done for me. I don't have a bad word to say about the club because there are people I worked closely with and that's their livelihood. But it was big lessons for me. I wanted to go there to learn as quick as I could. Not everybody gets to be a coach in the PSL and, at my age, to already have been there playing against (Mamelodi) Sundowns, (Orlando) Pirates, SuperSport can only augur well for me in the future.
TM: As you say, you were never going to win the league there, but were those things never discussed before you took the job, just so that they could give you some time to establish yourself?
DK: Look, I don't think there is an understanding over there about process. If I look at Arsenal now, they are in year three (with Mikel Arteta) and the fruits are there. When I went to Pirates and Ruud Krol was there, we won the league in year three. We won a treble. Everything takes time. When I arrived (at Chippa), there were 16 new signings and we had three weeks of pre-season. But I sat in the room and I asked myself if I can do it and, to a certain extent, I must say I started feeling good about what was happening, and the chemistry started coming. We held Sundowns… almost a draw. It was not my intention to park the bus, but Sundowns can push you back. I played for teams like that. With seven games in, I knew that things would progress because we were starting to understand the philosophy and there was a good mix of younger and older guys. It would have come together, but no hard feelings. It was no surprise when it happened. If I was going to act like it was a surprise, then I would be lying. I actually waited after the Sundowns game for the phone call to come. It came after midnight. So, I think I was prepared for it, but it still was not nice.
TM: After midnight? Hmmm…
DK: Yes, ha, ha, ha. The aim was to get to 10 points in 10 games. That was what we discussed. That would have been sufficient for me to carry on. We had five points in seven games and the next three matches (after the sacking) is where the points came, but that was because of the process, not because of whatever other reasons. But I've made peace with it. It's just unfortunate that the process was not trusted.
TM: Were you surprised by who replaced you (Morgan Mammila)?
DK: I would say no, because the Monday before the Sundowns game, I was told that was going to happen. You kind of had a sense that the direction the club was going in was not the direction that you were going in as a coach. I could tell that the Sundowns game was going to be my last because my assistant coach was removed. That's how the club operates. That always happened at the club. For example, on a day before a match, camp gets taken away. There is no camp and that's the sequence of how things happen. I've been a player there and I saw how coaches got sacked. I did not go in there blindly, I went in there with my eyes wide open. I went in there to learn and make a difference in the community of PE, which I think I did.
TM: But Mammila was known as a club administrator before he took over…
DK: Look, I don't think I want to mention Morgan in any of my conversations. I don't think it's worth my time and effort. I've got the utmost respect for him as an individual, but I'm a servant of the game and I look at it differently. So, I wouldn't like to mention (him) because I don't know him personally. I have never worked with him and I don't think I will work with him in future. For me to mention him, I would be saying things I should not be saying and that's not what I'm about. The less said about him, the better. I don't know him.
TM: Lessons learned?
DK: The cruelty that coaching brings. That feeling of being sacked. Even though you anticipate it, the feeling is still not nice. That's a lesson I learnt. When I met with Gavin after he got fired (at Chippa), he was livid. He was spitting fire. At the time, I also felt like leaving as well, but he was the first person to encourage me to stay, and those are servants of the game. When I took the job initially, I said if he leaves, then I also leave, but it didn't happen like that. You want to rub shoulders with people like that, who don't hold grudges and want the best for whoever comes in next.
TM: Would you ever go back?
DK: I don't think I would go back. I think that ship has sailed. There is an amount of time you spend in a certain environment. I do believe what I learnt there is as much as I can take. I don't see myself going back in the future, but you never know. That's why I say it's no use burning bridges. If things change there and they do things differently, then maybe, but now, my journey is to look forward, not back.
