Former Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper John Tlale says assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena will bring loads of experience to Chloorkop and that his return will make the job easier for coach Pitso Mosimane and assistant Manqoba Mngqithi.
Mokwena is touted as one of the country’s brightest managers and the retired net-minder is confident he has now matured after spells at Orlando Pirates and Chippa United as a head coach.
On the other hand, the 1996 African champion has urged the Masandawana family to embrace the 35-year-old, saying what happened in the past should be buried because Mokwena can help to bring glory to the reigning Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions.
“He brings experience and being an assistant coach to Pitso and coach Manqoba, his return means he will have to help the technical team and ease the load on them,” Tlale told Goal.
“I think it will also make their job easy because he is now experience after having a stint with Orlando Pirates and Chippa United. He is now matured compared to his expertise before leaving Sundowns.
“He brings a lot definitely and I’m sure both Pitso and Manqoba are happy with his return plus the advantage is that he understands the players and they also love him.”
On his message to the Kaboyellow family, the 53-year-old wants to see the fans welcoming Mokwena after they were unhappy to see the talented tactician joining a rival in the form of the Soweto giants.
“I think the supporters must understand that in football, coaches and players come and go. They also need to understand that people look for growth and development in their careers,” he added.
“It was a different challenge for him at Pirates under coach Micho [Milutin Sredojevic] and I understand the frustrations of the supporters but they also need to accept that he wanted to grow as a coach.
“The supporters must support him and welcome him with warm hands. They must just be patient with him and seeing violence in football is not nice. They need to forget about the past and look into the future with Rhulani.
“He is part of Sundowns family, they are a family and they just need to embrace him because he brings lots of passion and experience - football is team sport both on and off the field.”
