Mamelodi Sundowns warned against sacking under pressure Miguel Cardoso 'everything will collapse' amid PSL title race challenge from in-form Orlando Pirates

Should Premier Soccer League heavyweights decide to part ways with Miguel Cardoso, that would be risking everything, according to the club's former striker.

Already, the Tshwane giants failed to successfully fight for the MTN8 and the Carling Cup, and in the PSL, they are facing a tough challenge from Orlando Pirates.

Their inconsistency has raised questions, with some saying the only way to make the club more competitive is to sack the coach. However, Bennet Mnguni, an ex-Sundowns star, warns that it would be a wrong move.

“We cannot change the coach. Remember. If we change the coach, then the whole system is collapsing. We would rather keep the coach until the end of the season," Mnguni told Soccer Laduma.

"We cannot see, you know, sometimes as supporters, what the coach is seeing at the training field; we are not there. You can only judge him by the way the boys are performing.

“We want to win each and every game because we deserve to win, because we have players now, but you cannot only have players. You must have even the supporters to support the players to perform well," he added.

“It looks like now there is a division. Players are doing their job; the coach is doing their job. Supporters, they're supposed to do their job. Leave everything to the management. Remember, they are the ones working with them 24 hours. They know what the challenges are that are coming across, what they are facing."

The coaches are always easily blamed when things are not going right, and clubs will most certainly sack their coaches in order to end poor runs.

According to Mnguni, this is not a solution Sundowns should prescribe against their current problem.

“Generally, that's the easy solution. Yeah, that's the easy solution.  You know now we must not look at the easy way. Yeah, we must not look at the easy way out. We must look at the whole thing, that if we can do this, yes, I mean, we can achieve this, all of us," the former Bafana Bafana star added.

“What I'm looking at is that the supporters are not giving what they're supposed to be giving to the players in the management. When we were winning, we were happy with management, with everything. But now, when we are losing, we start pointing fingers.

“Yeah, despite what the coach is doing. Let's support them, and then the management will take care of that. Rather, we finish the season. Then next year we'll see what's going to happen."

"I'll tell you one thing. At Sundowns, we need to win everything, and then we achieve. If we lose one, we didn't achieve what we wanted. We are playing alone. We are not playing alone. I think we've got the quality players.

"We've got players that we think can bring each and every trophy at home, and even for the players when they sign them, the mandate is we want to win."

Before the Africa Cup of Nations break, Pirates climbed to the top of the PSL standings and have 28 points, two more than Sundowns.

Pirates are only concentrating on the domestic campaign after their elimination from the CAF Champions League. That means their energy is concentrated at home, unlike Downs, who will have to crisscross the continent in search of Champions League glory.

Another morale-boosting factor for Pirates is their consistency; they are on a five-match winning run across all competitions.

The Sea Robbers have also won three trophies: the MTN8, the Carling Knockout, and the Carling Black Label, although the latter is not official. Having all these trophies is expected to give them positive feelings and renewed impetus as they challenge for the elusive PSL title.