Williams opens up about playing under Manqoba Mngqithi

By Ayanda Nyuswa 

Mamelodi Sundowns shot stopper Ronwen Williams has opened up about working with Manqoba Mngqithi and the new technical team at Sundowns, and described the man in the hot seat as someone who is “transparent and enjoyable to work with”. Williams, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury that has kept him out of action since the tail end of the 2023/24 season, was speaking on Extratime on Gagasi FM on the eve of the 2024/25 Betway Premiership season kick-off. Mamelodi Sundowns will not be involved in the opening weekend of league action, as they are set to kick off their continental campaign with a second preliminary round CAF Champions League fixture against eSwatini Champions Mbabane Swallows on Saturday. 

Mngqithi, 53, has been trusted with leading Sundowns this season after the shock exit of Rulani Mokwena at the end of the 2023/24 season. His promotion in the technical team also saw the return of Steve Komphela to Chloorkop as the assistant coach, and the arrival of former Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu FC mentor Romain Folz as the senior coach. Sundown’s newly formed union has yielded a slow start to the season, as they crashed out of the MTN 8 in the semi final stage. The Brazilians lost both legs of the semi final against Stellenbosch FC (2-0 on aggregate), scoring just a single goal against Polokwane City in the quarterfinals. 

Williams, who has worked with Mngqithi at Sundowns since he switched from cross town rivals Supersport United in 2022, has described the KZN born mentor as a person who is enjoyable to work with and has an open door policy with players.

“The main thing is that he obviously know us he worked with us before, he knows some of our weaknesses, our strenghts and the type of football we enjoy playing,” said Williams speaking on Extratime on Gagasi FM.

“He is very transparent, he has his own way of playing and seeing football, he is transparent. When I say coach let’s try this or that, he is open to it and that is what I like. He wants a free flowing game and he has always said his door is open if we have any problems, you know, he is just enjoyable to work with. Yes maybe it doesn’t look like that at the moment but obviously it will take time because it is a new technical team. As much as there is new players a lot of new faces but there are changes and it will take time, but soon we will click. The technical team, as well as the new players will click and we will be back to our best.,” Williams concluded.