Moorosi Tsiane
UNDER-fire Kick4Life coach Katiso Mojakhomo says he will not leave his side anytime soon despite a poor run of results in both the league and cup competitions.
Mojakhomo’s charges have conceded 15 goals in five matches after being thumped 5-0 by Bantu on 12 January before losing 3-1 to LDF three days later. Three days later, the Old Europa outfit beat Swallows 2-1 before going down 2-0 to Matlama the following weekend.
Last weekend Kick4Life were also humiliated 4-1 by Bantu in the first leg quarterfinal of the LNIG Top8.
This is the heaviest defeat that that the side has suffered since its promotion into the elite league five seasons ago.
Mojakhomo is the fourth coach after Motlalepula Majoro, Leslie Notši and Mafoso to coach Kick4Life.
However, Mojakhomo who won the league title with LCS in 2011, said his current team was still work in progress and it would be unfair to compare it with his title winning side.
Mojakhomo replaced Mafoso who also left for Bantu and the team is now ninth with 16 points after 14 matches. The side has won just four, drawn four and lost six.
Kick4Life has consistently finished in the top eight in the last four seasons, a feat which looks out of Mojakhomo’s reach this term.
“About 80 percent of the players are new in the premier league so they are still settling and we don’t want to put them under any pressure,” Mojakhomo said.
He said he was not even considering leaving the team but said he would work to ensure the side improves.
“If I was coaching either Bantu or Matlama with the quality of players they have, then maybe I would consider to quitting but I am working with relatively young players. My responsibility is to nurture them and make them better players.”
The former Bantu and Lioli mentor however, admitted that he was under pressure as he is aware that the supporters want results.
“We are always under and now that we are losing matches, it is mounting because no matter what you say, the supporters just want a win.
“I arrived here late and I was aware of the situation but as a coach, I must hope. It is unfortunate that we are dropping points but I still believe this team can compete. We must just help them to focus,” he said.
He also poured cold water on the rumours of a fall-out with team captain Johannes Molapo that saw him being stripped of the armband in last weekend’ loss to Bantu.
“The only reason we changed the captain last weekend was to motivate other players but our captain hasn’t changed,” Mojakhomo said.
He also said he does not have any problems with defender Innocent Matlapeng, who has also been dropped to the bench.
“Matlapeng is one of the players who were really affected by our Bantu loss in the league and you could tell that he hasn’t recovered even during training sessions. He has also been playing with an injury and that is why we decided to give him time off.”
On his part, Kick4Life director of football Chris Bullock said they have endured a difficult time in the second round of the season but also said they were working to establish what the actual problem is.
“I am trying to gather as much information as I can from everyone involved. However, I also think the players’ confidence might have taken a nock due after a bad start, so it is a really tough situation.
“I have always supported every coach that we have worked with, so we are trying to support Mojakhomo to turnaround the situation,” Bullock said.
He said he was unaware of the rumours between the coach and some of his players.
