SA Analyst Flying High Since Leaving PSL

Former Bloemfontein Celtic analyst Lebo Kholoane is enjoying a dream season in the Botswana Premier League which has seen him called up for the national team.

Having started his career in football back in 2018 after graduating from the University of Free State, as a qualified sports scientist, he landed a job at Celtic as a physical conditioner in the development teams but was later promoted to the senior squad as Chief Analyst.

Siwelele finished in the top eight for the first time in four years in his first season and in the following campaign, they reached the Nedbank Cup final where they eventually lost to Mamelodi Sundowns – where he worked under John Maduka and Lehlohonolo Seema, two coaches he credits highly for his swift rise in his new role.

Kholoane went on to join Chippa United with head coach Seema, where they were in a relegation scrap and retained the top-flight status during the Covid-19 pandemic and also went on to reach another Nedbank Cup final where they lost to TTM.

A move to Golden Arrows then fell through before coach Morena Ramoreboli lured him to Botswana with Jwaneng Galaxy where they qualified for the CAF Champions League group stages ahead of Simba.

“I think our great season thus far is just a continuation of last season and the great experience we picked up in the CAF Champions League,” he tells iDiski Times about their 18-match unbeaten run in the season which appears to set them up for the title.

“We might not have done well but reaching the group stage was a big achievement and we needed to build momentum from there. But it helped with preparation, the pre-season, how to take care of the players, and developing a program that will keep them fresh.

“We’ve done a great job as a technical team and with support from management and the players for responding to what was tasked from them – we respect all opponents, that is the mentality with the goal of improving on last season. We want to win the league but we’ve put ourselves more in a position to say we don’t want to lose any games. 

“So the ambition is to remain unbeaten with winning the championship as quickly as possible so we can focus on the FA Cup after, we respect all teams but we’re ambitious.”

Galaxy are currently eight points ahead of second-placed Gabarone United with 12 games and he admits his working relationship with Ramoreboli dates back more than two decades as he previously played under the 2021 COSAFA Cup-winning coach.

And within the winning formula they have developed the Zebras have come calling for his services for their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Equatorial Guinea.

“The formal call-up came when the team was announced so I think it’s something I expected because of the talk last season, but when it finally happened it was just a great moment to finally be recognised in a foreign nation,” he explained about the call-up.

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“The ambition was always to come back, one always misses the pressure of the PSL games, of getting the results every week – and as a person, you always want to grow. 

“And I believe the experience I’ve got here, I believe the Champions League and national team experience makes me wish to come back home and contribute to the growth of football in South Africa, I would be more than happy to return home.

“But for now I’m focused on Jwaneng Galaxy, the job I have been given and making sure I contribute as much as I can to this beautiful country and the brand of Galaxy – and making sure I push myself towards a place where I want to be in the future.”