Mngqithi, Riveiro, Nabi: the sheriffs bossing the PSL in void left by Pitso and Rulani

The start to the 2024-25 Betway Premiership season has got the blood flowing. 

The big three teams hitting form, plus the fighting quality and competitiveness of Stellenbosch FC adding a dark horse factor, has supporters excited for South Africa's top flight like few seasons in recent years — perhaps even in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era. 

Mamelodi Sundowns’ 2-1 win against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday in front of 83,000 supporters at FNB Stadium was special — a real spectacle. It said something that neither the new-look Chiefs nor Sundowns raised themselves to the heights they look capable of this campaign, but the crowd were engrossed by and reacted to every touch in a tactical, competitive matchup where fortunes swung until the final seconds. Such a large turnout for a fixture that generally attracts a crowd of 45,000 to 65,000 is evidence of the excitement level for this campaign. 

Pitso Mosimane's departure after turning Sundowns into a domestic winning machine and continental force to embark on his international exploits, then Rulani Mokwena following in his footsteps, could have left a void in the space of high-profile head coaches in the league. 

But the coaches at the big three are stepping up to the plate as the new sheriffs in the PSL. Three strong personalities at Sundowns, Pirates and Chiefs have helped set the Premiership alight early in 2024-25 as a rare bright start by all three promises an end to the boredom of Sundowns' rampant domination and more pyrotechnics this campaign. 

These are the new sheriffs bossing an exciting PSL. 

Manqoba Mngqithi, Sundowns 

The 53-year-old has been around, not just in the PSL, but also at Sundowns. He is a 'new sheriff' in the sense that, while he has been a co-coach at Downs, with Mokwena and Steve Komphela, this is his first spell as a sole head coach at a big three club. 

The coach, who cut his teeth at a third tier Maritzburg City that produced stars such as Mbulelo Mabizela, has much to prove. His lone trophy as a head coach came when he steered Lamontville Golden Arrows to a famous 6-0 thrashing of Ajax Cape Town in the 2009 MTN8 final. 

That team's stylish brand of football won Mngqithi respect and admirers that last until today. He won another MTN8 and a league title in the Downs co-coaching structure. 

Mokwena's one-and-a-half seasons winning the Brazilians' sixth and seventh consecutive Premiership titles, the second of those by a 23-point gap over second-placed Pirates with a new record of 73 points, losing just one game, has set the bar high. It would be unfair to expect Mngqithi to match that kind of record. The league in 2024-25 is far more competitive. Yet Sundowns have become a team that expects at least close to such standards. 

Mngqithi's start, where the Brazilians looked patchy losing to Stellenbosch FC in the MTN8 semifinals, saw early grumbles from the fans. He has raised eyebrows sidelining big names like Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau, yet that also coincided with the goals flowing and Downs starting to look menacing under the new boss. 

Sunday Times reported Downs spent R100m of about R200m paid by PSL clubs in the transfer market and Mngqithi has a star-studded squad. His at times more direct football, on display in a sumptuous half-hour in the first half against Chiefs, seems to have real potential. 

Mngqithi can make his name if he fills predecessors and former colleagues Mosimane and Mokwena's huge boots at Downs. 

Jose Riveiro, Pirates 

The 47-year-old Spaniard's four cup wins in his first two seasons were a promising return arriving from Inter Turku in Finland with just three years' head coaching experience, all at that club, and no trophies. 

Riveiro's relative inexperience — he also assisted former Finnish international Mika Lehkosuo to two of his three Veikkausliiga titles as manager of HJK Helsinki — raised eyebrows, but he had shown potential at Inter, steering the unfashionable club to second, second and third place from 2019 to 2021. 

His cup trophies have brought the buzz back to the Buccaneers, who, despite consistently strong signings, had won one trophy in six seasons — the 2020 MTN8 under Josef Zinnbauer. 

The disappointment of Riveiro's first two seasons was that Bucs’ slow starts in the Premiership resulted in runner-up finishes to Sundowns by huge gaps of 16 and 23 points. Pirates' bright start in 2024-25 — winning eight of 10 games in all competitions and their first three in the league — indicates the game model Riveiro continually refers to is being implemented more smoothly in his third campaign. 

With their squad, Pirates, in with a chance of their third MTN8 trophy in succession when they meet Stellies in Saturday's final at Moses Mabhida Stadium, should add more silverware and could genuinely run Sundowns close in the league this time round. 

Nasreddine Nabi, Chiefs 

The Tunisian has taken just three matches at the ailing giants to provide the best hope in almost a decade of Amakhosi beginning the process of putting their disastrous nine past seasons without silverware — their previous longest was one — behind them. 

Nabi, 59, arrived with some experience. His positions before he made his name at Young Africans, or Yanga, in Tanzania included stints at Al-Hilal in Sudan and Ismaily in Egypt. At Yanga he won league and FA Cup doubles in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and steered them to runners-up in the 2022-23 Caf Confederation Cup. He proved that was no fluke coaching FAR Rabat to second place by a point to an unbeaten Raja Casablanca in last season's Moroccan Botola, a hugely competitive league. 

There have been flaws in all three matches at Chiefs — the 2-1 away win against Marumo Gallants, 3-1 victory away against AmaZulu and loss against Sundowns. But — with signings such as Fiacre Ntwari, Bradley Cross, Inácio Miguel, Rushwin Dortley and Gaston Sirino impressing — Chiefs look revitalised and also decidedly a work in progress, with plenty of room for improvement. 

They have played in patches. Chiefs destroyed AmaZulu in the opening half but lapsed in the second. Against Sundowns they came out flying for 15 minutes, leading to refreshed striker Ranga Chivaviro's opener, but were played off the park by Downs for half-an-hour after that, conceding Lucas Ribeiro and Iqraam Rayners' goals. It was the manner in which an Amakhosi, still new to their coach and gameplan, bounced back from that period with a disciplined, fired-up second half that left Amakhosi fans happy at their team, even in defeat. 

Some depth issues remain, but Nabi's building process seems to have a solid foundation. 

Plus, a fourth sheriff: Steve Barker, Stellenbosch 

He's not the coach of a big three team, so will get less attention, but it would be remiss to speak of the sheriffs making the 2024-25 season exciting without mentioning the quiet, uncomplicated, tough Stellies boss who lets his team's football do the talking. 

Stellies' business and football model is bearing fruit. They have kept the coach who promoted them five years ago, who has revelled in an academy environment with access to a high-performance centre at Stellenbosch University similar to the one he used so effectively when Pretoria University FC competed in the PSL. Stellenbosch make super-solid signings complemented by an excellent scouting system and development. 

They have a budget under the ownership of billionaire Johann Rupert, but a strictly controlled one and everything is carried out with maximum professionalism. 

Barker, 56, has steered Stellenbosch to Premiership finishes of 10th, 14th, fourth, sixth and last season's excellent third since promoting the team in 2019. He also won the club's first top-flight trophy last season, the Carling Knockout. Stellenbosch are the only team apart from Pirates to have won a domestic cup in the last two seasons. 

This campaign they have won seven, lost one and drawn two of their 10 games in all competitions, and on Saturday contest Saturday's MTN8 final against Bucs.