Former Bafana Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo says he could not settle in a nightmare period at Orlando Pirates because he “fell out of love with the game” there.
The 34-year-old centreback whose tough tackles earned him the nickname of “Tyson” early in his career as a youth product at Ajax Cape Town, has rediscovered his vigour at SuperSport United. Hlatshwayo has provided crucial experience at a mostly young team reuniting with Gavin Hunt, the coach under whom he captained Bidvest Wits to their first and only league title in 2016-17.
Hlatshwayo was close to his best again playing 23 DStv Premiership games and a cup match as Hunt’s mix of veterans and promoted development players finished a highly creditable third last season. This campaign the defender has played 19 league and cup games (14 in the Premiership) despite more than two months out with an ankle injury. Matsatsantsa are in third again.
For Hunt and Hlatshwayo there might be a shared, privately-held sentiment of satisfaction at finding their groove again after torrid periods in the complex, often more haphazard environments at Soweto giants.
Used to clubs with some resources but more professionalism, where he worked in close partnerships with administrators who strove to give him what he wanted, four-time league winner Hunt’s season at Kaizer Chiefs in 2020-21 promised much but ended in tears. He was uncomfortable in the hi-tech surrounds of Naturena, where the family business politics can be bewildering.
While Hlatshwayo did not say it, football followers reading between lines might infer from his Pirates story similarities to Hunt’s experience at Chiefs. The player was asked what went wrong at the Buccaneers, where the backroom politics can be notorious, and what the difference has been at SuperSport, whose clean, streamlined administrative policies are as renowned.
'I'm happy now'
“I’m happy now,” was the pointedly brief answer; then after a pause: “I fell in love with the game again when I joined SuperSport.”
Pressed on why he was unhappy at Pirates, Hlatshwayo said: “Because I had fallen out of love with the game.”
He was pressed for the reasons. “I wasn’t playing. I’d last played, I think it was during Covid-19, against [Kaizer] Chiefs, and I went through a patch and the results were not forthcoming. And then I fell out of love with the game.”
Hlatshwayo was asked if the spotlight he was under, as his errors attracted headlines and social media backlash, was a factor. “Not really because I’m not one to be too much in social media, and I knew before going to Pirates it was going to happen.”
This is a player who was groomed at Ajax’s Ikamva academy when that club was still superbly run, playing 24 league games as an emerging right-back for Foppe De Haan’s 2010-11 title-chasing runners-up who blew the championship to Pirates on the final day. He spent five years at Ajax, then six at Wits, where CEO Jose Ferreira ran a tight, trophy-hunting ship in a seamless partnership with Hunt.
When Bidvest pulled the rug out from Wits and sold the club, players and technical staff were left seeking homes. Big clubs came calling. For men like Hunt and Hlatshwayo, the environments there would have presented some culture shock.
Now the two — 59-year-old coach and player nearing retirement — are revelling at a SuperSport that has pared back on signings amid the austere post-Covid-19 financial landscape and is turning ever more to what was always a strong academy.
Young players
Hunt enjoys being adventurous fielding young players, and is an excellent motivator of them. Hlatshwayo is taking pleasure in being the shepherd to talents such as the 18-year-old attacker Shandre Campbell, who has five goals in 22 league and cup games; and 20-year-old centreback Ime Okon, who has attracted the gaze of Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos. A stream of other players in their late teens and early 20s have been introduced this season, including debutant attackers Siviwe Magidigidi and 17-year-old Lucky Muthewi in United’s 3-1 Nedbank Cup win against Richards Bay in their last game.
He’s very different — he’s our fan. ‘Gav’ is our fan. Even the youngsters — that’s why they are able to play for him.
— Thulani Hlatshwayo
“They keep us young in the team,” Hlatshwayo said. “The coach depends on us [senior players] because we’re the connection between him and the [young] players to make sure they stay humble.
“We don’t praise them a lot — I always tell Shandre that you need to stay humble, there are a lot of things that are still going to come. We made a bet with the coach that if Shandre stayed in the ice bath for more than five minutes and scored a goal [against Richards Bay] the coach would give him R1,000 — and he did [Campbell scored a brace]. And now he’s been called up to this training camp for the SA Under-20s. That's where it all starts.”
SuperSport hover between second, third and fourth place in the league, well off the pace of infinitely better-resourced six-time successive champion Pretoria neighbours Mamelodi Sundowns, who regularly plunder their best players. That is an indicator that, impressive as the results are, consistency is hard to achieve with young players.
“The coach talks about it all the time, having to promote. Besides my injury, we also had quite a few off form at the back. And having to travel for Caf [Confederation Cup] matches also, I think that level of consistency wasn’t always there. The coach was putting pressure on me that, ‘We need that experience at the back again.’
“Ime Okon is one of the defenders who has played a lot of games. You can get experience when you experience something, so the more he plays the better for him.”
Throughout his career Hunt has cultivated the image of a negative grouch in the media with some relish. Hlatshwayo was asked if that is what the coach is like with his players. His answer reveals much of why SuperSport’s youngsters thrive when thrown in at the deep end. “He’s very different — he’s our fan. ‘Gav’ is our fan. Even the youngsters — that’s why they are able to play for him.”
