29 May 2017

When Mogomotsi ‘Teenage’ Mpote was handed the Township Rollers head coach job on six months basis in January after the sudden departure of Mark Harrison, some skeptics wondered if he would be able to deliver the desired results at the demanding Gaborone West giants.

After all, two men who had occupied that seat before him had raised the bar high by winning the league in their first seasons, Madinda Ndlovu in the 2013/14 season and Harrison in the 2015/16 season.

However, Mpote took to the challenge like fish to water, and when Rollers sauntered aside Black Forest 2-0 at the National Stadium to clinch the championship last weekend, he became the first Motswana coach to win the Premier League for 11 seasons.

In fact, the last local coach before Mpote to lead Rollers to a league championship was the late Joseph ‘Banks’ Panene in the 2004/05 season.

Speaking in an interview this week, the former Miscellaneous and Tasc coach said he was confident about leading Mapalastina to the title when he took over.

He explained that his first objective was to win the dressing room and maintain unity in the team and he managed that without a hassle.

“When I took over from Mark Harrison I was aware of the pressure of being head coach. Remember when I coached Tasc, I took them from the bottom half of the log after Seth Moleofhi left the team in December and we ended the 2004/05 season in position four.

Mpote later coached Miscellaneous and helped them gain promotion to the premier league.

“So I told the boys, look I have been a head coach before so this (being head coach) is nothing new. I received support from everybody in the team, the management, technical staff and players. Our plan was to defend the title and I am very delighted because winning the league is a big achievement. It was a result of teamwork,” Mpote explained.

On how he has managed to keep Rollers unbeaten for 17 league matches since succeeding Harrison, Mpote revealed an interesting philosophy.

“I told my players that there are three points from a game, one point for us, one for the opponents and the other one for the league. So I told them that for us to be successful we have to protect our point, then fight to take away the point belonging to the opponent, and that will in turn enable us to have the point belonging to the league. I was always reminding them that if we protect our point we will not get beaten,” he said.

Furthermore, he said he was familiar with the players and managed to plan how to unleash youthful exuberance from players like Segolame Boy and Motsholetsi Sikele on opponents and when to tap on the experience of senior players like Joel Mogorosi.

“Experience alone cannot win you the championship, and likewise energy alone cannot win you the championship. You need a mixture of them. I have worked with a lot of Rollers players before in the under 20 national teams and I know their strengths. So we knew when to use our youngsters to give us energy for certain games, and how to use our experienced players to deal with situations in certain games,” he said.

Having achieved the objective of defending the league title, Mpote said he now desires to have the reins on a permanent basis after his term expired at the end of the season.

“I want to defend this league title with Rollers, and also want to go to the group stages of CAF if appointed Rollers coach next season,” he said.

He further said winning the league has motivated him to dream of becoming the Zebras coach in future.

 “I have enjoyed my coaching career since my first assignment in the first division with Thaza (Moleofhi) in 1996 when we brought Tasc back to the top division. I have also worked with Dick Chama and in 2000 we managed to win the Coca Cola Cup at Tasc when I was assistant to Moleofhi. In 2001, we lost the Coca Cola Cup final to Tafic. I then took over as Tasc head coach and lead them to a fourth place finish and also took Miscellaneous to the premier league. Looking at all what I achieved, I would say if you give Teenage a chance and support him he will deliver,” Mpote said.

He explained that the international coaching licence he attained in 2009 in England qualified him to coach in any league in the world.

Detailing his career as a player Mpote said he started playing at Miscellaneous in his home village of Serowe while still a young boy in 1976, hence the nickname “Teenage.”

He said Miscellaneous were promoted to the first division in 1978 (which was the Premier League back then) and that he played amongst big name players such as Sexton Kowa who was goalkeeper for Mochudi Centre Chiefs.

He was later signed by Diamond Chiefs of Orapa and eventually became their captain and player-coach.

“I won the second division (second tier league) in 1985 as their player coach. I was then recruited by Tasc who were struggling against relegation in the first division and I helped them survive by scoring goals. I scored against big teams like Notwane, Rollers and Gaborone United and we managed to survive while Black Peril and Sebele United went down instead in 1986. In 1989 Six (Sikalame) Keatlholetswe called me to the national team, but I was battling a knee problem at the time. I went on to win the Lions Cup and BP Cup with Tasc in 1990,” Mpote said. ENDS