Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has delivered a firm update on Monnapule Saleng’s situation at Chloorkop, washing his hands of the disciplinary saga and handing the matter over to the club’s management.
This comes as the player’s representative, Karabo Mathang-Tshabuse, revealed that the winger’s ongoing absence stems from complex psychological struggles rather than mere defiance.
Cardoso previously confirmed that Saleng was training away from the first team after failing to report for crucial assignments, including the second leg of the CAF Champions League final and the club’s pre-season camp in Austria.
Speaking ahead of the Brazilians’ MTN8 semi-final first-leg clash against Golden Arrows on Sunday, Cardoso laid bare the extent of the technical team’s attempts to integrate the 28-year-old before the situation deteriorated.
“I don’t want to speak too much about that because at the moment Saleng is a club issue, not a coach’s issue,” Cardoso stated at the MTN8 press conference in Randburg on Thursday.
“It was never a coach issue. He was always a player we gave a lot of effort to. We tried to push him so much toward the group, toward the dynamic of the group, towards the behaviours that a professional player has to have, the mental stability that a professional player has to have.”
MIGUEL CARDOSO DETAILS MONNAPULE SALENG’S MISSED TEAM BUSES AND BROKEN RULES
“Inside the group, we have no issues; we have a lot of understanding about what the rules are. Our locker room has rules, and when a player systematically breaks these kinds of things towards the teammates, towards the coaches, towards the club, we don’t know what we can count on.”
The Portuguese tactician highlighted specific instances of unreliability, noting that the technical staff exhausted every avenue to make the wide man feel supported within the squad dynamic.
“Imagine you train all of the week normal, and then you put his name on a list, and the day we are waiting for him in the bus he just doesn’t appear. So these things did not happen once, did not happen twice, three, four times… being the last to arrive, the first to go away.
“Our idea with him after he failed us was, let’s not put him apart; let’s embrace him; let’s try to give him stability; let’s make him feel important… But to be part of the family, you also need to want to be in the dynamic of the family. And it’s now the club’s time to speak because it’s a club-issue and no more a coach’s question.”
‘HE IS TRAVELING A VERY DIFFICULT PATH’ – AGENT DEFENDS MONNAPULE SALENG
Cardoso’s revelations follow comments from Saleng’s representative, Karabo Mathang-Tshabuse of P Management Sports, who offered insight into the underlying factors behind the player’s absences. Speaking on MetroFM, Mathang-Tshabuse suggested the situation stems from deeper personal and psychological challenges rather than simple defiance.
“Without breaching his confidentiality, I think that he’s travelled a season that is quite difficult for him to show up as a professional player,” Mathang-Tshabuse stated.
She highlighted his past loan stint from Orlando Pirates to Orbit College FC, explaining it was intended as an environment reset under coach Pogiso Makhoye, a mentor Saleng had previously worked with before making his mark in the top flight.
“I can see there’s an issue. I can see how it’s manifesting itself, but it is definitely greater than misbehaviour, and that’s the issue. Sundowns is professional enough to call it what it is… but I think that they are also kind enough to give him the space to try and see how he can recuperate back into the fold of a professional, high-performing player.”
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