Mosimane, Ngele At Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Pitso Mosimane celebrates a new Sundowns contract while Ngele’s future is undecided

BONGANI MALUNGA

When Pitso Mosimane and Mogakolodi Ngele’s paths crossed in 2015 after his move from Platinum Stars it felt like the football gods had aligned a spiritual connection between a tactical supremo and a talented player with the world at his feet. The result was expected to be footballing bliss, Ngele was expected to elevate his game while learning from one of South Africa’s greatest coaches and Mosimane was expected to reap the benefits of this union with more trips to the winners’ podium.

The latter occurred, especially for Mosimane as he guided Sundowns to national and continental dominance, however, Ngele’s PSL career quickly took a nose-dive as he has since changed clubs almost as many times as Mosimane has picked up trophies within the same period. Ngele saw chances limited at Sundowns as he could not displace any of the star studded group of forwards at the club.

A loan spell to Bidvest Wits followed after a limited first season, at Wits he enjoyed sweet revenge on his then parent club as he helped them win the league ahead of Sundowns. Then Sundowns blocked his move to Wits and the player was forced to struggle for opportunities until a January move to Supersport United salvaged his season.

When the Supersport spell ended, he returned to his not so happy hunting ground as this time he faced an even more tense situation as he was ordered to train away from the first team as the coaching staff informed him he was not part of their plans. The inactivity further depreciated the player’s value and he became difficult to shop around as the likes of Orlando Pirates had already cooled their interest after being prized out.

One of the league’s most sought after players had now been reduced to a spectator while also training with the Multichoice Diski Challenge squad and also keeping fit with Township Rollers last year.

The Zebras star currently plies his trade for bottom club Black Leopards, his third club since his unsuccessful spell at Sundowns. At the moment, his future is undecided as his contract is set to end on June 30, he is not as sought after as he was but he has shown glimpses of being back to his best when given a chance.

While Ngele ponders his next move Mosimane is enjoying yet another contract renewal after putting pen to paper on a new deal this past week. Mosimane has previously been quoted stating that he “feels he might have failed Ngele” although he did not go further to decode his remarks. The experienced coach once hailed Ngele as one of his secret weapons as he stated how the player’s ability to decide a match in multiple ways with his deadly left foot, however, it remains a mystery how they could not form a lasting coach and player partnership. Ngele was used as a makeweight twice in transfer deals by Sundowns, in deals involving Sibusiso Vilakazi and Jeremy Brockie, further proving how he had fallen down their pecking order.

Ngele broke through the ranks as young player earmarked to even play in Europe one day, the Sundowns move was widely expected to be his stepping stone to finally move to a European team but that did not materialize as his career took a different turn after moving to Sundowns.