Tshepang Mailwane: Fabregas, been a while. How are things at Marumo Gallants?
Lucky Mohomi: Since I had spent some time without a club, I missed this feeling. I'm enjoying myself and I'm grateful for the opportunity they have given me at Gallants, as well as the patience they have had with me. It's not easy signing someone who has not been playing that much, but right now I am happy. I'm getting minutes and I'm feeling good.
TM: You've recently had opportunities to play 90 minutes, something you must surely have been dying for.
LM: Yes, I played 90 minutes against (Orlando) Pirates and Sekhukhune (United) as well.
TM: Capping that display against Sekhukhune with a goal too.
LM: Yes, that feeling! It's been long. Obviously, they've had to check and manage me in terms of the load, hence in other games I could not play 90 minutes. Right now, I'm good and I'm looking forward to many more 90 minutes before the season ends. I was without a club for six months because the last club I played for was Venda Football Academy. So, from January until June (2022), it was a struggle a bit because I was sitting at home, training alone. In terms of life, it was hard because I got to watch other people doing something that I love. God was there and my wife was there, and time flew, until I got this opportunity to come here.
TM: Just to make sure, did you have to first go on trial with Gallants?
LM: No, I was with them in January (2022), but things did not work out for me at the time because they were banned from signing players. That is why I was not able to sign with them. So, I ended up signing for them before the season started.
TM: So, how have you survived the way your career has gone since leaving Mamelodi Sundowns?
LM: Mentally, it has been a tough journey because you know when situations like this arise, you never prepare for them. So, it became a struggle and it challenged me a lot. I was finding myself sitting alone at home, thinking, "Is this it?"
TM: Hmmm…
LM: I had to find something special that had to convince me that I could get the next job because I was out of the game and even when I was in the game, I was not playing that much. You can recall the days at SuperSport (United) where I was playing and then not playing. So, when you are not in people's eyes, you shift away. Bringing that back requires a lot of mental strength, a lot of hard work and a lot of patience. Luckily, I have a very supportive wife who helped me a lot in terms of dealing with these kinds of issues. We prayed each and every day because God is the way. It challenged me, but I ended up being right because I accepted the situation back then and I believed that everything would be alright as I still had a lot to give and show. So, someone out there would get to see that and grant me that opportunity again. I had to think that way. Hence, I am grateful for the opportunity that has been given to me by Marumo Gallants and I'm planning to use it wisely. I feel like I'm falling in love with the game again.
TM: What happens when you fall out of love with the game?
LM: When you fall out of love with the game, you feel like every door has just closed. You are on your own and nothing seems to go right. Every corner you turn to, it's dark. It becomes so difficult because remember you are used to the feeling of being there every day. Those sleepless nights worrying about training sessions and playing. When everything goes away, now you are alone. Now you try to text the guys you used to text, but they are at work. After the session, you try to catch up with the guys over some lunch, but they are tired. So, you get to be alone most of the time. It's a very dark place, but I'm grateful I got out of there, with the help of everyone who was around me.
TM: How many doors did you knock on and got rejected?
LM: Yho! That thing happens when you are not on the scene anymore. When you are not in the public eye, it becomes so difficult. You can try every door that you think of, but everybody is skeptical. They don't want to take risks on you. They know you from back then, but they don't know what you can offer them now, especially with the age I'm at right now. That's why I had to take the deal to play in the NFD (National First Division, now Motsepe Foundation Championship), to get that opportunity and bring myself up again, so that people could see that I was still in the picture. It becomes easier when you knock on doors because they have a reference, but being out of the game for long is very difficult. The doors you knock on are in the topflight and you try to see who is willing to take that risk.
TM: When people are not willing to take a risk on you, do you feel worthless?
LM: Obviously, that's how you feel. That means they don't see that potential anymore. They don't see that hunger anymore and they don't see what you can bring to the team.
TM: How do you feel about yourself now that you've been given an opportunity?
LM: Right now, I feel good. I am happy and excited because of how things happened. Slowly but surely, I feel that the Lucky from back then is coming up and will be better and better because the challenges I have faced have shaped me to be something that everyone is yet to see. Without putting any pressure on myself, I know that God is with me. My legs are still fine, the chest is still good and the mind is right.
TM: That's very important. The mind should be right.
LM: Yes, that's important. I feel great right now.
TM: How difficult then does it become when you join a team fighting relegation?
LM: It's a very difficult position we are in and it's hard knowing where I'm coming from, where I was without a job. It's something else and it means if the team goes down, I played a role in that. Right now, we are just trying to look at the positives and work on them more, and we try to push. Everyone is pulling their weight because everybody understands the importance of staying in the topflight. We are just trying to take it a game at a time. The most important thing is that we believe that we will stay in the topflight. We will move from the position we are in. The environment is okay. We are jolly, so we are just trying to shift anything that may try to hinder what we are trying to achieve. But yes, it is difficult because we get to worry and panic. Some games we drew when we were leading and some we lost because we were not used to being in that position of scoring first, but right now, we are starting to handle things better. I believe we are getting there. I know where I come from and I know what not having a job is like, so I say things to motivate the guys so that they can understand and try to avoid it. I'm trying to fight it because I don't want to go back there. I'd like to believe that I have a part to play in motivating the guys and reminding them what is happening out there. We have to keep what we have because we don't know what will happen at the end of the season, like how many of us will be jobless or might be jobless. I don't want anyone to be in that dark place that I was in.
TM: Powerful!
LM: We have to fight together and try to keep what we have right now.
TM: The club has introduced some changes in the technical team. What do you make of these
developments?
LM: You know in this industry, you can never say if it's good or bad because every coach has his methods. The new coach (Dylan Kerr) has come in and we are happy that the results are coming. I can't say it's good or bad, but we are all happy. I think the change has brought something positive.
TM: Why do you think things didn't work out under coach Dan Malesela?
LM: I don't think there is a reason. The results were just not coming and we all played a part in that. There are games that we should have won, but because of the position that we are in, we as players tended to panic. We tried to do whatever that we could, but we ended up losing concentration and then we ended up losing games. The results were just not coming. But with the attitude and mentality that we have, I'd like to believe that we can achieve our ambitions, which is obviously surviving, getting the Nedbank Cup and (CAF) Confederation Cup. We have plenty of good players and the coach is rotating the squad and everybody is putting in a good shift.
TM: Thanks, Fabregas. May you achieve those ambitions come end of the season.
LM: Thank you for the opportunity.
