Wydads New Coach Rulani Mokwena - Interview
Wydads New Coach Rulani Mokwena - Interview
Transcript
00:00Yeah, I think there was a bit of a surprise, particularly with regards to how quickly
00:20WIDAT showed interest in my services. So first is dealing with the unexpected call, but also
00:34there's a lot of humility and appreciation for how much WIDAT showed in relation to how
00:44eager they were to have me on board, and how excited they were to have me as one of
00:50their head coaches, and extremely humbled and grateful for the opportunity. And for
00:56sure I think all the love that I've received, all the support that I've been given, we hope
01:05that we can repay back to the WIDAT faithful and to the club, and give it the best that
01:12we can.
01:15You know, the negotiations were very, very difficult, but I've also got to give a lot of
01:23praise to the board, to the president of the club, the vice presidents of the club, and
01:33also to my agent, because I think they worked extremely hard to make it possible and to
01:39make it happen. There was quite a bit more interest from outside, of course, like there
01:46was interest for the coaching position of this amazing club. But eventually I think I
01:53made the right decision to join the winners of Winners 2005, and I think that we've got
02:02a lot to achieve. It was difficult in the sense that everybody knows how difficult the
02:08situation at the club is at the moment. But I have faith and confidence in the president,
02:15I have faith and confidence in his word and his promises that he's given. I have faith
02:21and confidence in the board members, and each and every single member of the board that
02:26has reassured me that the club is moving in a direction where we are trying to get it
02:34back to where it is supposed to be. Of course, part of that is the work that we do as coaches
02:42to improve what is here. Fortunately, not every single player has left, and we still
02:50have players that can form a very good foundation and a core base. And that for us is to make
02:58sure that we improve those players and we make them better through coaching and work
03:03every single day. And then, of course, the club has to show incredible desire to invest
03:13in the squad, because we are in that position at the moment where we don't have a squad
03:19that is, for me, at the moment as we speak, ready for the Club World Cup. So we have a
03:25lot of work to do. But I have been reassured that I will get all the support that I need
03:31and the club will give it its best. And as I said, we will give it our best. One thing
03:39I can reassure Wydad Football Club is that we will give it everything that we have.
03:49Well, of course, I am excited about being the head coach of a very big club. It is the
03:56second-ranked team on the African continent and for sure that is not by chance. We need
04:02to try to get more Champions League titles and hopefully we can start working on that
04:07because for a club of our magnitude, three Champions League titles is not enough. We
04:14need to try to continue our dominance in the local and the domestic competitions and
04:21that means working very, very hard on winning the league once again. Twenty-two championships
04:27is an incredible feat and one that you work very, very hard to try to surpass and to improve
04:34upon. But, of course, I think the most important, as I always say, is to leave the jersey better
04:40than we found it. We will come to Morocco, we will come to Wydad and it is not so important
04:48how we come, when we come and how we are perceived when we come. What will be important is the
04:57impact we make on the people, on the people that work for the club, the people that support
05:02this incredible club, the amazing supporters of Wydad. The impact we have on the players,
05:08their lives, their families and the support that we give them and help them to get better
05:12and to improve. But also, at the same time, to be honest, we have to try to win and at
05:19big clubs the most important thing, of course, is to win. That allows you to leave the jersey
05:25better than you found it because that is the number one aim, to make sure that we leave
05:30this Wydad when the time comes and hopefully we are here for a very, very long time. But
05:36when that time comes, hopefully we leave the jersey better than we found it.
05:44Well, of course, there is a fundamental way that I view football and I don't know if it
05:49is a philosophy but it is a way I view the game. I think from a global perspective there
05:54are certain principles in possession, out of possession, that are necessary to be implemented
06:01into how we want to do things as a big club and how we want to try to create a personality
06:08for the team. Everyone knows, I think already now, even part of the negotiations, a huge
06:19impression was made on me when the club said to me, we want the style of play that you
06:25were able to implement at Sundowns and even if you give us 25% of that. My response was,
06:31don't worry, we will give you even 26%. I think when you have people who believe in
06:37how you think football, you speak the same language about football, you have a bit of
06:41a global understanding which is similar in relation to how you think about football and
06:47how you view football, not only with just the senior management and the board but also
06:55with regards to the players and the supporters. I think the energy that I am receiving from
07:01the supporters is one that is in thirst for beautiful, attractive and extremely offensive
07:12football that brings results. Of course, you need very good players for that but this
07:17is the process and if we believe in the process and we stick to the process, we should be
07:22able to get the results even though we have to go through the different stages. Of course,
07:28the first stage is adaptation. Immediately after forming a group, you move into adaptation
07:35and that adaptation is for the players and the new players that come in, is for the technical
07:40staff that comes in and maybe even for the senior management and the board that comes
07:45in for their first season. Of course, we are all hungry and motivated and want to do very
07:51well in our first season. We are going to need the support of the current staff, we
07:57are going to need the support of the current group of players that are still here to move
08:02this big club into the right direction. We are going to need the love and support from
08:08our supporters. We do this for them, we love them and we want to try to do everything that
08:16we can to fight for every single point, every single match and win every single match and
08:22that is what we are going to try to do. But of course, as I said, it is a process and
08:26trying to deliver results with a certain way of playing, of course, takes time. But you
08:37know also that in a big club you don't have time and the currency in a big club is results.
08:46Sweden has amazing fans. I have always had incredible memories of coming to the Casablanca
08:58Stadium and coming to play with them. We have done that in the AFL, we have done that in
09:03the Champions League. Yesterday the president was reminding me that I am the only South
09:09African coach, sundowns coach to beat Wiedaard and that gives us a great feeling that we
09:19come in here with so much respect that is given to us, so much love that is given to
09:24us, so much belief that is given to us. But also so much confidence that is given to us,
09:30confidence to carry on with our work and try our level best to give everything that we
09:38can to this football club. We are excited as a coaching team and we are excited to join
09:44this family and we are looking forward to eventually starting the season and working hard.
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