Swallows FC chairman David Mogashoa had the tough task of breaking the news to Musa Nyatama about the appointment of Steve Komphela as head coach, but it turns out it worked out quite well.
A few weeks ago, Mogashoa confirmed to the Siya crew that Nyatama would be the head coach going into the 2023/24 season after he had stepped up during some difficult times and eventually inspired the club to a top eight finish. Ditheko Mototo was hired as Nyatama's assistant as Swallows got their pre-season preparations underway, but the club made the shock announcement over the weekend of Komphela as the head coach after leaving Mamelodi Sundowns.
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But this, Mogashoa admitted, was not part of the plan. Things only changed when he got wind of Komphela being available to take up a role elsewhere after serving Sundowns for three seasons. This meant, however, having to break the news to Nyatama, who took the news quite well, according to Mogashoa.
"What happened is that I got wind of coach Steve (Komphela) becoming available, or might be available. Then I started speaking to his agent about the possibility of him joining Swallows. So, the negotiations took about a week and, for me, that's not long for someone of coach Steve's calibre," Mogashoa said to the Siya crew.
"The important thing for me is that coach Musa (Nyatama) has a CAF C license. So, by bringing in coach Steve, it will be a good opportunity for coach Musa to finish his badges while coach Steve is there, or at least do a CAF B. You have coach Musa who has a CAF C and you have coach Ditheko Mototo who has a CAF C license. So, if SAFA opens up for CAF B, then that means we must send both of them there, which means we would not have a coach. So I looked at those things and I thought bringing in coach Steve would be a good idea."
Mogashoa had lunch with Komphela and Nyatama on Saturday, before the club confirmed the experienced coach's appointment on their social media platforms.
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"The challenge I had was that I had to speak to coach Musa whom I had given a commitment that he would be head coach. I met with coach Musa at 13h00 and I showed him the bigger picture. I was happy that coach Musa did not resist. He was open and he accepted that coach Steve is more experienced. He was also happy that the club is willing to pay for his courses going forward, because that's the commitment I made to him. It just made sense, hence we decided to have dinner with coach Musa and coach Steve on Saturday evening, so that they get to meet each other, and they are both on the same page.
"I left there with goosebumps because it looked like people who, more than anything, were best friends because the communication was open. You could not even feel any tension. You could see that it was coming from the bottom of their hearts, and they genuinely want to work together. It was not like we are sidelining coach Musa. We saw a bigger picture that we wanted coach Musa to be part of."
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