'I love them,' Komphela says of the 'troublesome players' he's working with at Swallows

Steve Komphela has admitted that as much he's rebuilding a new team at Moroka Swallows, getting results will be key.

Swallows face Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinal of the MTN at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Komphela will be looking for a victory against his former employers after drawing and suffering a loss in his first two league matches with the Dube Birds.

“Results bring confidence into the work you're doing,” said Komphela.

“There's been people who've done a great job but [this is] only understood by people who understand football. 

“People who understand football look at football and look within football. Not around football. And as such they will be patient. People who are not in full understanding of the game they become impatient and the only thing that can assist you is results. 

“Whether we like it or not, we're in a performance environment and the results are crucial. So, when you get the results, it helps. It even helps better when you have people who understand the game because even without the results they see the process.”

Komphela said he was very disappointed with the 1-0 loss against Cape Town City at the Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday as he thought the result was not a reflection of the game his team played.

“If we could get a summary of the report of a match we played against Cape Town City, it will show that in all matrix, we were just on top. Possession, this and that, all of them. But tell me about the results: we lost. 

“You need to have the understanding and objective view of that product (result) to understand it. If you're not objective and you're emotional, you get clouded and unfortunately football is an emotional sport. So, the moment you become emotional you don't take the right decision.”

Swallows have recruited more than 10 new players and among them are some many coaches and clubs would have hesitated to work with because of their reported off-the-field shenanigans. They include Andile Jali, Dumsani Zuma and Gabadinho Mhango.

Komphela insisted there's nothing untoward with him working with the so-called troublemaking players and insisted that people tend to misunderstand them because they usually “act out of the norm”. 

“I beg to differ,” said Komphela of those labelling these players as troublemakers.

“I have geniuses. They act slightly out of the norm.

“If you're in a class and you're doing a test, a ten-point speed test ... by the time you give the first sheet to the student, let's say he's a genius, when you reach your last candidate, the genius is done and is bored.

“What do they do? They become delinquent. They are not a delinquent but they're a genius. So when you have players of that calibre, let's look at the quality they have, it is unquestionable and it's impeccable.

“So, when you have such super stars, you have to deal with it. It's not easy to deal with super stars and geniuses.

“You also have to be matured enough to not be intimidated and work with them. Listen, I appreciate every second with them and if you can see how we interact with them outside the field, the maturity is excellent.

“On the park, how they solve the problems, listen, if there's anyone who says I want a million of those ... I want a million of those. I love them.”