Former Sundowns star gives honest admission on Rulani Mokwena’s exit
Former Mamelodi Sundowns star Katlego Mashego has given an honest admission about Rulani Mokwena’s shocking exit from the club.
Mokwena is fresh from winning his second successive DStv Premiership Coach of the Season award after clinching the 2023/24 league title with Masandawana.
The Brazilians won their seventh successive league trophy with a 73-point record and also clinched the inaugural African Football League [AFL] silverware after beating Wydad Casablanca in the final.
In the previous season, Sundowns won 22 matches in the league, drew seven, and lost only once in 30 games. Interestingly, Sundowns lost the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates which has seemingly not sat well with the club’s hierarchy and supporters.
The Tshwane giants also fell short in the CAF Champions League following a 2-0 loss on aggregate against Esperance in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Mokwena was in his first full season as the sole head coach at Downs since taking over in October 2022. Before taking over the role, the Soweto-born tactician was a co-coach alongside Manqoba Mngqithi between 2020 and 2022.
WHAT DID KATLEGO MASHEGO SAY ABOUT RULANI MOKWENA’S EXIT AT SUNDOWNS?
The shocking news of Mokwena’s abrupt departure was confirmed in a statement by the club on Wednesday, 3 July 2024. The 37-year-old coach reportedly had a fallout with the sporting director, Flemming Berg, over the day-to-day running of the club.
While Mokwena’s exit comes as a surprise after he signed a new four-year deal last year in July, Mashego says the club can afford to continue without the highly-rated mentor.
“I think we need to realise that Mamelodi Sundowns is a big team, and Sundowns will continue without coach Rulani as they did with Pitso Mosimane, [Hristo] Stoichkov and many other good coaches,” Mashego told FARPost.
“So I think the team will be able to go out there and get a coach who aligns with the values and standards of the team. From the outside, you can see that there are different opinions, and such things happen in the big clubs.”
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