Chippa are dancing to Teboho Moloi’s tune
When Teboho Moloi accepted the job at Chippa United, he had to answer to his friends and family who were telling him he was throwing himself into the fire as the club's chairman Chippa Mpengesi has earned a reputation of being too quick in sacking coaches.
Caretaker coach Teboho Moloi of Chippa United (Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)
But Moloi says he is not someone who judges other people based on what he has been told about them – he would rather get first-hand information.
“I grew up in a township and if someone didn’t want us to steal their fruit from a tree, they would spread a rumour that their trees have been sprayed with some lethal muthi and if you stole from them you’d die.
“I came and sat down with Chippa and he explained his vision to me and I understood it. We reached an agreement,” he said.
READ: Moloi explains why he started with Mbenyane against Chiefs
Since taking over from Daniel Malesela, Moloi has done fairly well and registered the team’s big wins this season beating Mamelodi Sundowns in a cup game and Bidvest Wits in a league game. He was however criticised for not taking defeats in good spirit when his side where knocked out of the Telkom Knockout by Kaizer Chiefs, as he blamed the referee for decisions favouring Amakhosi.
Yesterday he said he would rather not go back to that in case referees target him seeking vengeance. “In hindsight, I see that this might have been good for us to lose because we could easily be side tracked. Our vision is to go play continental football. And for us to achieve that we need to finish in the top three in the league. If we had progressed we would be playing the cup game on the 19th and then Free State Stars away and on the 25th we host Sundowns and so on. We could be caught up in the moment and maybe lose track of what we want most,” he said.
Moloi said he had not made too many changes but rather introduced a structure and shape to the team’s style. “The most important thing that we overlooked is that when we went in attack we were vulnerable at the back, we never had any shape. When we went forward it was just for the sake of going forward. Many of the players didn’t understand their roles in the team and you’d find both wingers on one side which should never happen in modern football,” he said.
And his philosophy? It is simple. He believes that players perform at their best when the environment is susceptible for it.
“I treat the players the way South Americans treat theirs,” he said. “They should have the same feeling playing football that they have when they listen to their favourite music.
“They must have a relaxed atmosphere at all times. When I do team talks before the match I take just 15 minutes because we have already done most of the work during training. On match day I want the players to be relaxed.”
He said he is toying with the idea of putting a sound system to play music in the change room to get the players’ spirit right ahead of matches.
“I want to introduce music to the change room. If there is a hit Kwaito or Gqom song that they enjoy, we must play it,” said the 49-year-old mentor.
Although he still has a special love for Pirates, he said he wants to focus on the Chilli Boys where he has been afforded an opportunity which the Buccaneers could not.
