PITSO Mosimane whispered to a slumbering giant, and it responded, was how the Mamelodi Sundowns coach described his side’s 2013-14 Premier League title victory.
Downs went to an unassailable 64 points, four ahead of second-placed Kaizer Chiefs, with a stirring 3-0 victory against SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.
The Brazilians have a match against Maritzburg United in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday remaining.
Chiefs’ 1-0 victory against Pretoria University in Nelspruit was rendered irrelevant.
“My first six months was to put out fires,” said Mosimane, who took Downs over in last place from Johan Neeskens halfway through last season.
“For this season we needed to get players who can score goals, because our challenge was not defending, but finishing.
“So we went out to get the players we think are good finishers... I told you I would whisper to this sleeping giant, and one day it might respond. And it responded. And tonight we are the champions, and we deserve it.”
Mosimane, who came close to league titles in charge of SuperSport between 2001 and 2007, became the first black SA coach to win the PSL.
He had to settle some clear nerves at halftime on Tuesday, where Downs were goalless at the break. Goals from Surprise Moriri (49th minute), Teko Modise (62nd) and Cuthbert Malajila (73rd) earned the Brazilians their first league title in seven years, and first trophy in six.
“You could see the players were nervous. I was nervous too,” the coach admitted.
“At halftime I never coached, or maybe only for one minute. Because I said to Manqoba Mngqithi and ‘Barnes’ , ‘OK, leave them. Let them rest. They’re just nervous – they’ll get it back’.”
While Mosimane’s open chequebook is the envy of rival PSL coaches, a feature of his pre-season signings was the quality of players he brought in, especially in finishers such as Cuthbert Malajila, Dove Wome and Katlego Mashego, and the playmaking class of Bongani Zungu.
The coach said he laid out a blueprint for winning the league to president Patrice Motsepe and the Sundowns board.
“I told the president, ‘We need a lot of changes in the team’. I gave the vision to the board. The challenge was the question raised about, ‘Are we going to bring many players again with no result?’.
“I said, ‘I don’t know who was buying before, and what they were buying. If you entrust me with this thing, we need a different crop of players to win the league’.
“I surrounded myself with the right people – Mike Ntombela is a legend, he’s played with me; Peter Ndlovu played in the English Premiership; Trott Moloto has been here, he knows the politics of the club. You keep the generals.
“I had Barnes as assistant, and felt I needed more support from someone who has extensive knowledge of the league, and brought in Manqoba in January.”
Downs, have already broken the PSL’s 63-point record set by Chiefs in 2003-04 for the period since the league was reduced to 16 teams in 2002-03. And they will equal their own record of 11 wins in a row if they beat Maritzburg United in their final match in the KwaZulu-Natal capital on Saturday.
Masterplan a masterstroke
Downs went to an unassailable 64 points, four ahead of second-placed Kaizer Chiefs, with a stirring 3-0 victory against SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.
The Brazilians have a match against Maritzburg United in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday remaining.
Chiefs’ 1-0 victory against Pretoria University in Nelspruit was rendered irrelevant.
“My first six months was to put out fires,” said Mosimane, who took Downs over in last place from Johan Neeskens halfway through last season.
“For this season we needed to get players who can score goals, because our challenge was not defending, but finishing.
“So we went out to get the players we think are good finishers... I told you I would whisper to this sleeping giant, and one day it might respond. And it responded. And tonight we are the champions, and we deserve it.”
Mosimane, who came close to league titles in charge of SuperSport between 2001 and 2007, became the first black SA coach to win the PSL.
He had to settle some clear nerves at halftime on Tuesday, where Downs were goalless at the break. Goals from Surprise Moriri (49th minute), Teko Modise (62nd) and Cuthbert Malajila (73rd) earned the Brazilians their first league title in seven years, and first trophy in six.
“You could see the players were nervous. I was nervous too,” the coach admitted.
“At halftime I never coached, or maybe only for one minute. Because I said to Manqoba Mngqithi and ‘Barnes’ , ‘OK, leave them. Let them rest. They’re just nervous – they’ll get it back’.”
While Mosimane’s open chequebook is the envy of rival PSL coaches, a feature of his pre-season signings was the quality of players he brought in, especially in finishers such as Cuthbert Malajila, Dove Wome and Katlego Mashego, and the playmaking class of Bongani Zungu.
The coach said he laid out a blueprint for winning the league to president Patrice Motsepe and the Sundowns board.
“I told the president, ‘We need a lot of changes in the team’. I gave the vision to the board. The challenge was the question raised about, ‘Are we going to bring many players again with no result?’.
“I said, ‘I don’t know who was buying before, and what they were buying. If you entrust me with this thing, we need a different crop of players to win the league’.
“I surrounded myself with the right people – Mike Ntombela is a legend, he’s played with me; Peter Ndlovu played in the English Premiership; Trott Moloto has been here, he knows the politics of the club. You keep the generals.
“I had Barnes as assistant, and felt I needed more support from someone who has extensive knowledge of the league, and brought in Manqoba in January.”
Downs, have already broken the PSL’s 63-point record set by Chiefs in 2003-04 for the period since the league was reduced to 16 teams in 2002-03. And they will equal their own record of 11 wins in a row if they beat Maritzburg United in their final match in the KwaZulu-Natal capital on Saturday.
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