A lot has been said about the cruelty of football, but perhaps not enough noise is made about the treatment coaches, in general, are subjected to at PSL clubs. The honest truth is that no matter how well they do, they are always at the mercy of club bosses, who often use the 'this is my club' card to decide the fate of the men on the bench. The number of coaches Chippa United have had, for example, since the club's formation in 2010, attests to this. And so whoever takes up a job at the Gqeberha-based side will always attract extra pairs of eyes, and this was the case when Lehlohonolo Seema was called on to save a sinking ship towards the end of this past season. True to form, despite leading the Chilli Boys to safety, club chairman Siviwe Mpengesi decided not to continue with the Lesotho-born man's services going into 2023/24. However, no trigger was pulled this time, they say. In this frank interview Soccer Laduma's Masebe Qina, Seema talks about mission accomplished and why he has no hard feelings towards Mpengesi.
Masebe Qina: Coach, better late than never. Congratulations on getting Chippa United out of relegation trouble.
Lehlohonolo Seema: Thanks, my brother. Well, I think it's because when you send me to a football club for a job to be done and the players and resources are there, we will work. One thing that I can tell you is that I am a hard worker. The main thing to do when you go to a club and find players in that situation is to work on their mindsets. Also, you've got to work on their attitude, as well as the confidence.
MQ: Take us through your conversation with club chairman, Siviwe "Chippa" Mpengesi, before accepting the job.
LS: I wasn't working, but obviously, I was keeping up with what was happening around the league. I watched a lot of games and analysed them to make sure that my mind didn't get rusty. I also kept myself busy with the online (coaching) courses. The chairman called me and said, "Look, man, I would like you to come and finish these four games and try to make sure we survive." That was it, and I accepted the job. On all three occasions that he called me to save the club, I had not been working and he always found me available.
MQ: We understand that you were at Peace Makers, a third-tier club with close relations to Chippa…
LS: Yes, that was the case, but you must remember that I went to Peace Makers because the club was preparing for the provincial playoffs against Amavarara in their last game. So, I was called to help the team because the aim was to qualify for the national play-offs, with the bigger picture being promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship. Unfortunately, the team lost 1-0 to Amavarara and it was one of those. I remember when I spoke to the chairman (Mpengesi), I had already decided that the following day I would be getting into a plane to Johannesburg to be with my family, and he asked me to wait a bit. I remember their next game was in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals against Sekhukhune (United) when that conversation took place. He said, "Please don't leave and we will talk after the Sekhukhune match." True to his word, after the match we spoke, and he asked me if I would be willing to take the job for the last four games to try and save the team. I told him I had no problem with that. That was it, and that's how our conversation went.
MQ: When you lost to Kaizer Chiefs in your first game, didn't that give you a bit of a scare?
LS: I think when I started it was five days before we played Chiefs and from the very first training session I had with the team, I sat down with the players and spoke to them one-on-one about what needed to be done. I assessed the opponents, showed the players what I thought, and we analysed everything that needed to be analysed and went on to do the battle. Together with the technical team, we worked hard on getting the players ready and from that first game against Chiefs, one could see the improvement and we were very unlucky to lose 1-0 on the day. Prior to that game, the team had been leaking a lot of goals, so the plan was to minimise that. We wanted to be as stubborn as possible, and we knew that any point we got from there would go a long way in helping us in our situation, but unfortunately, we couldn't get anything from that one, although there were a lot of positives to take.
MQ: Up next was Richards Bay FC.
LS: Going to Richards Bay, we were quite confident because of the positives we took from the Chiefs game and therefore we were not worried, although we were understanding of the pressure that our players were under because we were, like, having four cup finals to play. In the first half, we were 2-0 down and we managed to get one (goal) before half-time. My halftime talk that day was one of those I would like to forget about soon because it was all about making the players believe that we had it in our hands and all that we needed was to toughen up and be better. Thank God it happened because the players reacted positively and they had the belief, and we came back and managed to win that game 3-2. That win was a huge boost for the players' confidence. By the way, Richards Bay is not an easy team to beat, even though they didn't have a good run in the second round of the season.
MQ: TS Galaxy lay in wait!
LS: For the TS Galaxy game, we told the guys that it wasn't going to be easy, and before we knew it, we were 2-0 down. We still had belief that we would come back but we couldn't, unfortunately. Football is like that – if you don't score from your chances, you will suffer. At that stage, we were thinking about the goal difference, and we were trying to push for at least a draw, but we conceded two more goals as we pushed numbers forward and ended up opening at the back and we lost 4-0. From there, the aim was to not lose the play-offs spot that we were in. So, going to the Golden Arrows match, it was to play for our play-offs spot. We didn't know that Maritzburg (United) was going to get a point against (Mamelodi) Sundowns. After they got that point, going into the last game we were at the bottom of the log.
MQ: Tough situation.
LS: We played cautiously against Arrows although some people said things afterwards, suggesting that the opponents didn't want to play when they started doing things (tricks), but I'm saying people chose to take some moments and clips they preferred from the game, which they wanted to discuss. But there were one-one-one situations with our keeper during the game as Arrows were attacking and those moments are not showed during the discussions. I then got the message that Swallows FC is leading that side, I then said, "Okay, it's fine, then a point is good enough for us."
MQ: You're right, social media was abuzz, with critics suggesting Abafana Bes'thende didn't play like a team with an intention to win with those tricks from the likes of Ntsako Makhubela and Nduduzo Sibiya.
LS: I have said it before and I'm saying again, people, and especially those on social media, choose to pick the clips they prefer to discuss and leave out the rest. They are talking about Makhubela and whoever else was doing such, but there were moments where both teams were attacking each other and the goalkeepers needed to make saves. Those moments are not shared on social media. I can tell you now that both teams were playing to win the match. Also, it wasn't the first time that Makhubela was doing those things on the field. If people can go back to check on social media, they will find the clips of him doing those things from the previous match… I'm not sure if it was against (Orlando) Pirates or which team. If I remember well, there was a game he did those things when they were trailing. It's not something new, it how they play. People now make it look like they were not serious – no way! I know because I worked at Arrows and that team is serious and the Top Eight is always a priority for them.
MQ: What went through your mind as the referee blew the final whistle?
LS: I'm one guy who works closely with the supporters and I was so happy for the supporters and for the fact that they were there in their numbers. If the Eastern Cape was going to be starved of topflight football, it was going to be sad. Also, there are a lot of youngsters from the province in that Chippa set-up and I was just happy that we saved a lot of jobs. Kunabo mama abathengisa ngaphandle e (There are old women selling stuff outside the) stadium and therefore it was a good feeling that we managed to save the club for all of that to continue. I didn't do it alone because I'm not a magician, and I would like to thank the chairman, to start with, as well as the entire management and supporting staff, technical and medical teams as I pushed them very hard in those last four games because we had a lot of injuries and that is why our top goal scorer Etiosa (Ighodaro) didn't play. For me, it was mission accomplished that I delivered on the mandate, but hey, all glory goes to God. The Almighty showed His mercy on me. Everybody had already written us off and God emerged with His intervention.
MQ: You talk about saving jobs, yet your stay wasn't extended after the short-term agreement ended.
LS: If it's only one person who has lost a job while a whole lot of others are safe, that's what makes me even sleep peacefully at night. Imagine if we had been unsuccessful in saving the team, how many people would have been out of jobs. Having said that, I don't think my job was not saved. The chairman and I spoke openly about it before I took the job and that's why there wasn't even a contract in place. It was just an agreement for the four games and that we would talk after. People think that I had the expectations, but I'm putting it to you, Mr Masebe, my brother, that I didn't have any expectations. I knew that there would have to be a review from his (Mpengesi's) side before knowing if I would have a job at the club for next season. I spoke to the chairman and there are no hard feelings. Wherever I have served, I have always made sure that I leave without any hard feelings so that if another opportunity comes in future, they can remember about me. So, I was not fired at Chippa, but the team just decided not to continue with me.
MQ: Coach, all the best for your future endeavours.
LS: You are welcome, my brother.
