Rulani Breaks Silence On Mbule Signing

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena has broken his silence on Sipho Mbule’s move from SuperSport United to Chloorkop.

Mokwena was named DStv Premiership Coach of the Season alongside Manqoba Mngqithi after leading Masandawana to a domestic treble in 2021/22.

But the Sundowns’ technical team are not done and continue to strive to improve their squad, having now added Mbule to their ranks.

Mokwena explained that Mbule is an incredible talent and that it’s their role as coaches to make he stays on the right track after some off-pitch distractions in the past. 

“The reality is you can’t doubt the talent. The talent is there for everybody to see,” he said on Gagasi FM.

“I think it’s clear, even when you look at when he became available in the market. You had a host of teams fighting it out for his signature.

“Players like Sipho are players that are national assets and we have a responsibility to be able as coaches to play a role in trying to support our players in their development, in their growth.

“They’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to come across certain challenges but what’s important is that they have to understand – and particular in South Africa I think, that’s where we fall short – is managing the career instead of the talent.

“The talent is come to training for two hours and then go home and then you forget about football,  but the reality is the best players in the world, they manage their careers and not the talent.”

Click below to read the FREE digital version of the iDiski Times newspaper, including the second part of our interview with Rulani Mokwena where he extensively talks about the painful lessons of the CAF Champions League, his relationship with Pitso Mosimane and his special bond with Arthur Zwane, his private talks with Andile Jali as well as his amateur club Black Poison!

Mokwena also insisted that South African players need to realise there is more to football than just training and playing games, but the players need to treat their body like a “private company” and continue to invest in it.

“I think that’s where we fall short a little bit and our South African players have to get to that understanding that football is a profession, is a career and that every single thing that you do, what you eat or what you engage in after training,” he continued.

“You can’t just be a footballer when you’re at the football club, there is preparation, you’ve got to start to arrive an hour before to do your activation work in the gym and invest in that. 

“Invest in what you eat, what you drink, invest in your support structure, the people around you because you become a private company. You are a PTY Ltd and every single department in your company has a responsibility to assist you.

“To be able to make a profit, like any other company. The first objective is to make a profit and make a profit while the conditions still favour you. This short-lived career is one we have to really get back into that space of trying to remind our players of that. 

“It’s our responsibility in assisting these players, in them trying to recognise it and we’re trying to do that with Sipho. 

“He’s got incredible ability, he’s a national asset, he’s a future Bafana Bafana international and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, because if we really want to compete with some of the best in the world, we’ve got to make sure that our best players are playing for Bafana and they’re playing professional football and are doing very well with their careers.”

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