Komphela shines with Celtic

Kaizer Chiefs and fans may be full of envy as their former coach, Steve Komphela streaked straight ahead to scoop the first monthly awards of the 2018/19 Absa Premiership season.

The Bloemfontein Celtic coach was not alone at the awards as he was accompanied by his highly reliable central defender, Alfred Ndengane who, along with his teammates, has made Komphela proud and proved a point about his skills.

Komphela was named Coach of the Month while Ndengane was awarded the Player of the Month award for August. The duo became the first recipients of the monthly premiership awards after playing five games without a loss and second on the table after Bidvest Wits.

Wits and Celtic are joint leaders with 13 points from five games, having won four games and drawn one apiece, but Wits occupy the number one spot on superior goal difference.

Wits were equally deserving of the accolades but Komphela and his team beat The Students by virtue of having come from a troubled background while still at Amakhosi to lead his charges to four victories.

The only ointment in his eye is that Komphela could not accomplish one more goal, as they both settled for a 2–2 draw, which almost blemished his record at the start of the season but to him, with the kind of resources and players at the disposal of Chiefs, a draw was just as good as a win.

Under his tutelage, Bloemfontein Celtic hit the back of the net on seven occasions, only conceding twice in the match against Chiefs. During the award month, Celtic beat Chippa United, Golden Arrows and Orlando Pirates, scoring five unanswered goals in the process.

The Free State-born coach took to the podium for the monthly recognition awards at the Premier Soccer League offices in Parktown, beating Wits mentor Gavin Hunt and SuperSport United’s Kaitano Tembo to win the award, which was voted for by a panel of analysts, former players and broadcast media.

For winning the awards, Komphela and Ndengane each received R5 000 from Absa for their exploits. For his part, Komphela urged his charges to remain humble and not be carried away by the honour bestowed on him and Ndengane.

“We need to remain grounded and continue to work hard. It’s only through hard work and a desire to do even better and that we can get better and better with time.

“We need to sustain the current momentum and form,” Komphela said while Ndengane called on his teammates to “double-up” in the matches to come.