The first cut is the deepest, as goes Cat Stevens' song, and indeed, the coaching duo of Vusumuzi Vilakazi and Mabhudi Khenyeza would have drawn a lot of lessons from their first full season as co-coaches, a campaign that did not deliver much for Golden Arrows. Instead, they finished ninth, the same position as in the previous season. Aside from the usual challenges of putting out the best XI for each and every game and maintaining a happy camp, the two young tacticians had to deal with injuries to key players, which meant reshuffling here and there. It put a spanner in the works. But still, finishing inside the Top Eight bracket was all in the Durban-based outfit's hands going into the last fixtures of 2022/23, but they could only return with a draw against relegation-haunted Chippa United, a game they have been accused of receiving the famed 'brown envelope' from judging by highlights that did the rounds on social media. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Masebe Qina, "Kanu", as Vilakazi is fondly known by all and sundry in the soccer fraternity, clears the air on the controversy and reveals what the challenges were.
Masebe Qina: Welcome back to the pages of Soccer Laduma, Kanu. Together with Mabhudi Khenyeza, you have finished your first full season as Golden Arrows co-coaches. What was it like?
Vusumuzi Vilakazi: I think it was a difficult season, I must say. If you can also check, it has been for the very first time after a long time that teams were so close to each other in terms of the points accumulated. The season wasn't too predictable as to who was definitely going to be relegated and who was safe. The things that happened this past season were unexpected because in the previous three or four seasons, it wasn't too difficult to predict possible departures from the league after four or so games into the second half of the season. Things were different this time around, but I do feel the need to say that it was a good experience for us. As you've just mentioned, it was the first full season for us and there were lessons learnt. Last season, we took over for the last six games. There have been challenges along the way and as young coaches we are still on our way to learning more about the industry at this level, while we also have the responsibility to lead the team into the right direction. We learn from the other coaches and we learn from working with the players week in and week out, while we also get to understand them. We are learning about the demands of coaching at this level, so it was a challenge for us, yes, but an enjoyable one. By saying it was an enjoyable one, I don't mean we were comfortable because when you lose games, you have to explain what went wrong and come up with the solutions on where and how things need to improve. Overall, it was a good season for us.
MQ: What are the challenges?
VV: At the beginning of the season, we lost some games which we thought we could have won. Defensively, we were… I don't want to say we were terrible, but we didn't have a solid defensive structure and we suffered a lot because of that. It was not only about the in-field players, but also the goalkeeping department did let us down a bit. There were some challenges as our goalkeepers were off-form and, in some instances, (Sifiso) Mlungwana was dealing with weight challenges and stuff like that. But it was not only the goalkeepers that we had challenges with, like I say, but the whole defensive structure. We lost (Thabani) Zuke at the beginning of the season and that meant we had to change our centre-back pairing. In making the changes, it didn't mean that we were taking out a centre-back for a centre-back, but we ended up making changes with what we had. For example, we replaced an injured centre-back with a left back in Themba Mantshiyane. We tried to play him as a centre-back while knowing very well that he is not a centre-back, and those are some of the challenges I'm talking about. We suffered a lot while trying to make the players adapt to their new positions that we were trying them in and it took a long time for the players to adjust. That's what affected us in a lot of games at the beginning of the season.
MQ: Were you satisfied with the squad balance?
VV: Hmmm, I wouldn't say we were satisfied with what we had, outhi yami (my friend), or I would be lying if I told you so, but we had to work with what we were getting at the time. Obviously, we knew that there would be a right time to engage the chairlady (Mato Madlala) and suggest on where we think we needed to strengthen. We have since had that meeting with the chairlady already. The upcoming season will be different from the one we just had because we've looked at the challenges we had and we will try everything possible to do better in the new season. We've had engagements with the chairlady, like I say, and she is fully supportive on everything that we'd like to have.
MQ: What are some of the positives you took from the season?
VV: Ngicabang' ukuthi (I think) there were a lot of positives to take from the season, outhi yam. I know that what a lot of people have been highlighting is that we didn't start the season on a high, which is true. We lost two games before we started picking up the points, although we were not consistent as we were also playing draws along the way. What I liked about the season is that we finished strong. For me, that was proof that whatever we were trying to do, slowly but surely, we got there even if it took longer than we anticipated. When we played against Chippa United in our last game, we had lost just once in eight games, against Stellenbosch FC. So, we enjoyed some consistency towards the end of the season, which for me was a positive and something to build on. Also, I think the players I mentioned earlier, who were playing out of position, were already settled in their new roles and doing well and it was good because we finished on a high note.
MQ: The team finished ninth on the log, the same position achieved in the previous campaign. Coincidence?
VV: Yes, we finished ninth in the previous season as well. Obviously, we took charge of the last six games then, but we didn't have a mandate on what we were expected to do. We didn't get any pressure from the chairlady, but on our own we had aimed for the Top Eight. That's what we wanted to achieve, and we were very disappointed amongst ourselves that we didn't achieve that. But with the positives that I've highlighted in answering the previous question, it was not a train smash that we didn't achieve what we wanted to achieve, although we could have done better. Mabhudi and I would have been happy about finishing in the Top Eight, even if it was position eight or seven, because it would have been a better position than that of the previous season. That was the disappointing part, but we understood that maybe it was not meant to be. We've missed out on playing in the Top Eight (MTN8) in the new season, but we'll prepare well and fight our own battles to be in the next edition of the competition.
MQ: A lot was said on social media about Arrows' last game of the season against Chippa, with some suggesting your players didn't show enough hunger to win because of the skills and tricks from the likes of Ntsako Makhubela and Nduduzo Sibiya.
VV: I am aware of what was being said about us because I'm also active on social media. I don't focus too much on what people say about our team and I always look at the bigger picture and follow the same direction that everyone at Golden Arrows is taking in terms of what we want to achieve as a team. If abantu bacabanga ukuthi (people think that) we didn't want (to win) that game, I don't know what is making them to think that way. That was the game to decide that we were getting into the Top Eight and we wanted to be in the Top Eight, like I've already mentioned. But to hear such comments, it was so disappointing because some people had their own wishes and we ended up being associated with what they wished for. Our bad luck was playing our last game against Chippa, and I suspect that if Chippa had different opponents on the day, that team would have been victimised with similar comments as those that were directed at us. I don't know what le taima (this man – Chippa chairman Siviwe Mpengesi) has done to people for them to dislike him like this. Everyone doesn't seem to have a liking for the guy from what I've noticed. I saw on Facebook and everywhere else that people were disappointed that Chippa didn't get relegated. Going into that game, we didn't plan to send Chippa to relegation or save the club, we had our own mandate. Whatever happened to Chippa had nothing to do with us and all we wanted was to win the game and see ourselves in the Top Eight at the end of the season.
MQ: Go on.
VV: There were many factors that resulted in us not being able to score on the day, although we tried our best to do so, but it was difficult. I think (Lehlohonolo) Seema (Chippa coach at the time) did also mention in his post-match interview that their aim was to come out with a draw from the game. What he said was what we were also able to see on the field of play when they played that all they tried to do was to protect the point they already had and that's why we were unable to penetrate them. It is a strategy in football to play in front of the opposition to try and draw them closer to you when you are in your half and that's what Arrows was trying to do on the day. We wanted them to come out so that we could identify the spaces they opened, but they were very stubborn. Seema also said that they were lucky that the point they gained saved them from not going to the play-offs. They had aimed for a point to take them to the play-offs at least and that was a difficult game. About what people are saying, I am not shaken, outhi yam, as I don't even know how to fix games or help people and things like that. I've never been to that level and anyone accusing me of such would be just being disrespectful to me. I don't even know where to start with getting myself into such things. What I was happy about is that we didn't lose the game, although we could have done better.
MQ: More disappointing was that some of the comments against Chippa were made by people from the Eastern Cape, a province the chairman is trying to uplift.
VV: I noticed as well, and some of the people were wearing Chippa replicas but were saying negative things about the man. That's why I'm saying some people were expecting their wishes to be fulfilled at the expense of Arrows.
MQ: Kanu, enjoy off-season and come back stronger.
VV: Sharp, outhi yam.
