The word 'cheeseboy' refers to someone who is spoiled by, and always gets his way with, his parents. The moneyed kid. Get it? Considering this is the moniker by which Lebohang Mokoena goes, it is such a misfit for a player who has never put money before his career. Known as a dazzling winger of a teen during his Orlando Pirates days, who matured into an adult that won titles with Mamelodi Sundowns, his last club was Swallows FC. However, it has been a while since anyone heard anything, at least in the public domain, about the Diepkloof-born star. Has he called time on his decorated career? Why, in the first place, did he leave a club he had helped to topflight promotion? In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane, the 36-year-old provides clarity on his current situation, while also explaining why he had to cut out 'the middlemen' in his career.
Tshepang Mailwane: Cheese, you basically just disappeared from the game after leaving Swallows FC at the end of last season. Why all the silence?
Lebohang Mokoena: It's because nothing was said to me. I was just told the day before the opening of pre-season that I should not report to training. I never actually got the whole story of the reasons behind that. Even today, I ask myself what could have been the problem for them to release me or not exercise the option in my contract.
TM: Wait! You were only told a day before pre-season started?
LM: Yes. Just after receiving a message in the team's WhatsApp group that training will resume, just as I was preparing for the following day, I got a call from the (team) manager Elasto (Kapowezha), telling me that I should no longer report to training. That was it.
TM: Strange.
LM: Yes, till today it's still a little bit strange. I don't know the reasons behind it. I don't have the answers. Like I say to a lot of people that I meet in the streets… they still think I'm part of Swallows, but my contract expired and they did not exercise my option as per agreement. They had said they would keep me for the next season, via Dylan Kerr and the chairman David Mogashoa, but it never happened and I never got answers from anyone regarding my release.
TM: During that call with Kapowezha, did you not ask him why the club was letting you go?
LM: I did ask what the reasons were, but as a manager he could not give me the answers. He was also told, and he was just someone who was passing on the information. I don't know what the issue was. I'm just grabbing onto lost things in the air. I don't know how to tell you. Even today, I still don't know. If I knew, I would have said it by now that these are the reasons. But they did not renew. I said, "You guys said you would keep me (for) another season, but you are only telling me a day before pre-season." If they had told me earlier, it would have been easier for me to try to find another team or something.
TM: Do you think it was due to financial reasons?
LM: Maybe it could have been financial issues, but I'm just guessing. But I'm somebody who was not really into money, even at the beginning of my contract with Swallows. I told the chairman that, at my age, it was definitely not about the money. It was just about finishing off my career well and, fortunately, we won promotion and that was a bonus. I thought I would have a couple of seasons to play, but yeah…
TM: Did Swallows owe you any money when you left?
LM: There was an outstanding amount, but the club did manage to pay me over a couple of months after the contract expired in June. The following three months, I was given what was left and that was it. They did pay me all my money. I know the team had been facing financial issues, but I was sorted.
TM: Great. So, did you feel disrespected by the club?
LM: I wouldn't say disrespected, but I would say as the club, there could have been a better way to deal with the situation, maybe being told earlier. But in terms of disrespect, I don't think so. They respected me in all the seasons I was with them and they obliged to certain demands of my contract. I can't really fault them, but they are the ones who really know what transpired. For me, it was more of a setback and a shock. It took a couple of months to sink in that I was no longer part of the team. I didn't take it to heart. It was just a shock. Nothing is guaranteed. I am not angry, and I still want to go watch them play and I want to see them staying in the topflight because if they go down, it will mean that some of us wasted a lot of energy in getting the team back. I always like to leave teams on good terms because you never know what happens tomorrow. I never disrespected anyone at the club. I've still got love for the Birds.
TM: What difference would it have made if they had told you earlier?
LM: It would have given me an opportunity to look for another team in the last six months of my contract. At the time I left Swallows, teams had already opened up for pre-season and they already had plans on players they would be bringing in. So, yeah, it just made it a little bit more difficult for me to try to find a club. Remember, we went to the play-offs and finished the season two or three weeks later than the rest of the clubs. I think it just jeopardized my plans because if I knew that I would not be staying, I would have raised my hand to other teams and found out if I could join them for the following season.
TM: Why haven't you yet joined another club?
LM: It's heart-breaking. I've been through this road before. I left Ajax (Cape Town) and it was difficult to get a club until Mr Allan Norman gave me that opportunity at Maccabi. I did my best in the NFD (National First Division, now Motsepe Foundation Championship) and the team kept their status, before Swallows came on board, so I don't want to say the same old story and tell you that I've been knocking on doors and nobody is giving me an opportunity. It was just a waiting game for me and seeing if there could ever be an opportunity. I don't have an agent. You know how things work in football; you really need somebody to be a representative who can find out from clubs if they are interested. So, it left me in an awkward position to find another club. The only opportunity would have been in January, but with the economy of the country, I think it's difficult for teams to bring in players.
TM: Is it your decision not to have an agent?
LM: Yes, it was my decision. I was part of ProSport for all these years and things did not work out well after Ajax and I thought I should try to do it on my own. I did manage to get myself back into the PSL. At my age, I think I've seen a lot in the game, and it was easier to sit down with an owner of the club and discuss my contract and discuss what I wanted. ProSport treated me well, by the way. It was just a decision I had to take because they also had other players on board that they needed to take care of. In South Africa, as you get a little older, you don't become much of a priority and I felt I was no longer getting the attention I needed from the company, so I decided to try to go on my own and also learn in the process. I was helping myself so that in future, if I get any players that would like me to be their representative, I would already have an idea of how these things work.
TM: What did you learn from negotiating your own contracts?
LM: It's about cutting out the middleman. It's about my interests because sometimes as players, we push the agents to demand certain things that you want, and you are not there at the roundtable when they discuss figures and what you want. It becomes a little bit difficult when you don't get feedback and not understanding why you cannot get certain things, but I think when you do it on a personal level, it becomes a little easier in terms of telling the club what you want. When it comes to figures, you can tell them directly what you want. If the club cannot meet those figures, then you can make the decision and say you can settle for this or that. When you have an agent and sometimes when they are not happy with the figures, they will decline the club and sometimes all you need is game-time and you want to get into a team and work your way up. Sometimes it becomes a disadvantage when they sit at the table and you really don't know what they are discussing, whereas you as the player need to speak to the owner.
TM: Does this mean that you want to be an agent in future?
LM: I've got a couple of youngsters who want me to spearhead their careers and help them, but it's obviously something I need to sit down and look into because it demands a lot as well. There are legal representatives who need to be there because they also need to go through the contract as well. It's not just about me, but there are other people I should be working with to try to assist in that manner.
TM: As things stand, what are you doing?
LM: I'm currently at home. I'm not in a position to say I've retired or not. I'm just keeping on a low and focusing on my family. Of course, I'm still training and I'm in good shape. If God wants me to get back to the field, it will happen. If it does not happen, I will definitely let you guys know that it's time. After last season, I felt I needed another season or two, but the problem we have in our country is that when you get to a certain age, there are really not a lot of possibilities and sometimes people tend to overthink and worry that we are going to ask for a lot of money. Sometimes it's not about money, it's about doing what you love. I have never put money in front of my football career, as much as the game has changed into a monetary thing for certain players and certain agents. For me, it was not about that.
TM: And retirement?
LM: It's a matter of discussing it with my family. I have to discuss it with my wife and see how my kids will take it. It's not an easy decision to make, especially when you have so much love for the game. I'm just waiting for the right time, to say whether I will be going back to playing or I should retire and focus on other things. I'll probably let the whole South Africa know by the end of the season.
TM: You were recently an analyst on SABC for the Soweto Derby.
LM: That was the first time and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. It was a great experience and it's something I would want to do once I call it quits. I think I have a good eye for analyzing matches. It's something I learnt during my (Mamelodi) Sundowns days when coach Pitso (Mosimane) was really assisting us with those things. I've really grown in that aspect, where I can pick up the tactics of a club, the players and the strengths and weaknesses of the club. It's something I'd really love to do after playing.
TM: All the best, Cheese.
LM: Thank you so much.
LEBOHANG MOKOENA FACT FILE
Full name: Lebohang Lefalamang Mokoena
Date of birth: 29 September 1986
Place of birth: Diepkloof, Gauteng
Nickname: Cheeseboy
Position: Midfielder
Jersey number: N/A
Club: Unattached
Previous clubs: Orlando Pirates juniors,
Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns, Ajax
Cape Town, Maccabi FC, Swallows FC
Honours: 2007 SAA Supa 8 runner-up, 2008 Telkom Knockout runner-up (both with Pirates), 2012 Telkom Knockout runner-up, 2013/2014, 2015/16 League winner (all with Sundowns), 8 Bafana Bafana caps
