Steve Komphela: Credit must be given to Mabhuti Khenyeza

Steve Komphela says he hasn’t been back at Golden Arrows long enough to make an impact, despite leading the team to a first win in nine games.

Abafana Bes’thende overcame Polokwane City 1-0 on Sunday with Nduduzo Sibiya netting an 85th minute winner.

Komphela was brought in to replace Mabhuti Khenyeza, who will continue at the club in a coaching role, along with fellow first team coach Musa Bilankulu.

Reflecting on the result that saw Arrows move onto 26 points in eighth place, Komphela lauded the work done by Khenyeza and Bilankulu in the lead up to this game.

Komphela said on IOL: “The credit must be given to Mabhuti and Musa.

“They did the work. You can’t do anything in two days, except just to be there, maybe ease the pressure and then try to add a bit of influence in terms of energy.

“You must look like you are relaxed, you are cold on the face but deep down your heart, it is burning and on fire. It’s part of life.”

Komphela added that the Arrows players have “grown” a lot as a result of their recent run of poor form and are determined to reignite their season.

He explained: “No team in the league has grown like this team because of the pain they went through. Sometimes we tend to not want to pay the price and as a result, we can’t get the commodity. The commodity is the success, the cost for success is pain.

“That was the theme of our discussion and then they embraced the theme, embraced the pain and said, ‘you know what? We have grown and we are better people than who we are’.”