Mngqithi urged to step out of the shadows at Sundowns

Mngqithi urged to step out of the shadows at Sundowns

Smiso Msomi

Former Bafana Bafana and Golden Arrows midfielder Thanduyise Khuboni has urged well-known coach Manqoba Mngqithi to leave his ‘comfort zone’ and seek to be the main man once more.

Mngqithi currently serves as the ‘senior coach’ in the Mamelodi Sundowns technical team, working under the leadership of young bull and head coach Rhulani Mokwena.

The 53-year-old tactician has been with the Chloorkop-based outfit for just over a decade now and has formed part of one of the most dominant periods of South African football with the Brazilians ripping records apart season in, season out.

Thanduyise Khuboni. | BackpagePix

Khuboni, who spent four seasons with Mnqgithi at Abafana Besthende and famously won the 2009/2010 MTN8 Cup with the club after demolishing Ajax Cape Town 6-0 in the final.

Mngqithi has been a South African champion five times with Sundowns and collected CAF Champions League, CAF Super Cup, MTN8, Nedbank Cup and Telkom Knockout medals as either the assistant or senior coach at the club.

However, the savvy tactician has been linked with numerous moves away from the club with his contract on a one-year renewal at the moment and clubs like Kaizer Chiefs said to have been interested in his expertise.

Khuboni has urged the Umzimkhulu-born manager to leave the soft pillows of Sundowns and remind the nation of the kind of power he possesses as a head coach.

“I wish (he could leave Sundowns) and I’ve been wishing for that for a while now, that he leaves that place and stands on his own two feet as a coach,” Khuboni said at former Orlando Pirates defender Siya Sangweni’s tournament on Sunday.

“There’s been a number of times where clubs like Kaizer Chiefs have struggled for coaches and that’s still the case now, and even at clubs like AmaZulu, they struggled before the coach they have now.

“He (Mnqgithi) coached us when we were young so we know exactly what he possesses in terms of unearthing youngsters and turning them into really good players. He gave me my big break and that goes for a lot of us because he has an eye for talent rather than sticking to old heads.”

Khuboni feels that a man of the character and personality of Mngqithi is exactly what is required to facilitate a new age of success at the so-called big teams in the nation.

“Sometimes clubs like Chiefs need a fearless man like him, a coach that isn’t afraid to change the structure and turn it into one that’s worthy of the Kaizer Chiefs brand because it’s not everyone that should be playing for those types of teams.

“I wish that someday when he feels confident enough again, the confidence that we know him to have because he coached us, I wish he would leave that comfort zone and become a head coach somewhere because we deserve to see him coach at another team again and I’m sure he’ll do well.”