Moroka Swallows have offered some clarity on the salary situation at the club following head coach Steve Komphela’s remarks that players didn’t train for 10 days.
Komphela told the media how he convinced his players to honour their DStv Premiership clash against SuperSport United after downing tools.
The club’s chairman David Mogashoa has since addressed the situation. “Yes, there were delays, but the salaries were paid in full. We’re working on ensuring that this doesn’t happen again,” he told FARPost.
Swallows suffered a 2-1 defeat to Matsatsantsa at Dobsonville Stadium on Friday afternoon. Two late goals from Tendamudzimu Matodzi [85th minute] and Etiosa Ighodaro [89th minute] were enough to earn Gavin Hunt’s side maximum points.
The Dube Birds were the first to find the back of the net through Gabadinho Mhango in the 69th minute of the showdown.
HOW STEVE KOMPHELA HANDLED THE MOROKA SWALLOWS’ SALARY SITUATION
In a post-match interview, Komphela blamed the defeat on “mental fatigue which comes from physical fatigue”.
“A difficult match to be honest, but the difficulty is simply known to us honestly. Maybe one should go direct to the lead itself after leading for so long hoping that we have survived whatever change we are going through. And then you come to concede two goals in the last minutes, one after the other.
“Under normal circumstances, you would believe it, and go mad to say how could you. But logic and rationale would just be dedicated to you that goals scored towards the end of the match are an indication of concentration, and mental fatigue which comes from physical fatigue.
“So it’s normal we wouldn’t have done justice to football. We would have defied the odds of not playing for so long, not having trained for 10 days, and beat a top team in the PSL.
“But at the end of the day, there has to be accountability. Who’s gotta be accountable for the results, it’s the coach. Whatever the circumstances, nobody wants to know,” said Komphela
WHAT KOMPHELA DID TO TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
The former Kaizer Chiefs mentor stated what he did to try to solve the problem rather than taking an easier way to step out.
“To solve the situation was to try to be part of the solution. I could have taken the easier decision to say listen I’m stepping out of this. But do I help anybody? Do I help these players? Do I help the team?
“Now, this is what has been happening with us, every day you come to training. I’m there by 8:30 am, and whatever challenge is there we try to solve and if it doesn’t happen, players go back. And you come back again the next day.
“You can go to my family and ask them. Not even a single day have I not been at work. They will also be surprised and shocked to hear that I have not been to work. I do my job as a professional.
“Your conscience will tell you that you got to be at Dobsonville for training and you come here to try to solve a problem and if you can’t solve it you go back home. You’re helpless, you can’t do anything because players will tell you we’re not training,” he stated.
HOW STEVE KOMPHELA CONVINCED THE MOROKA SWALLOWS PLAYERS
Komphela went on to reveal that he had to send a voice note to the players to convince them to report for duty and honour the fixture.
“I had to send a voice note to say guys everybody has to report for duty because we need to find a way. To be honest with you, it could have been bad if we did not honour the fixture or something worse than this happens,” Komphela added.
“I think in the past, there was a match where Santos got three points from us and we did not honour the fixture. It happened in the past and it can’t happen again.
“We need to respect the game and those who value the game. So, part to that you take a lashing try to protect the game that everybody else tries to protect.”
Komphela continued: “So, I could have taken the easier way to say cancel the match, but try to solve the problem. But where we at understandably so, is a culmination of what has been happening. And honestly speaking, you can’t hide this. It’s a fact of life.”
As things stand, Swallows are placed eighth on the log standings with 18 points from 13 outings.
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