Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has addressed rumours suggesting he might be sacked, with former coach Pitso Mosimane reportedly linked to a potential return.
Cardoso, who took over from Manqoba Mngqithi in December 2024, led Sundowns to a Betway Premiership title and a CAF Champions League final, where they lost to Pyramids.
This season, however, he has already missed out on two trophies, both won by Orlando Pirates, prompting speculation about his future amid growing fan dissatisfaction.
Cardoso dismissed the rumours, saying people are spreading noise about things they are unsure of, and urged fans not to be “poisoned” by outsiders.
“The problem is nowadays, people discuss football on the phone, and they speak about things they have absolutely no idea of,” said Cardoso.
“That gives a lot of echo to things that don’t even exit. And that is a question, people are discussing things that they would like to happen.
“Having a phone, a blog and some followers give echo to people that don’t know what they are speaking about. Look, Sundowns is a club that’s ruled from the inside to the outside not the other way around.
“There’s a strong leadership, strong sport direction, a strong coach and a strong locker room. The doors of Chloorkop are strong that those things like that don’t enter, we are united.
“We are working hard to please our fans. And we need them not to be let themselves be poisoned by the outside, keep supporting us.”
The Portuguese coach added that there are people looking to harm both him and the club. However, he stressed that he won’t pay attention to the noise and will only leave if the club decides to part ways with him.
“There’s people that want to hurt Sundowns, there’s clearly people that want hurt people in charge of Sundowns – coaches, players and everything,” he added.
“But they will be frustrated because we are strong, very, very strong. Regarding my future, don’t worry about my future because it doesn’t depend on football.
“It’s just my professional life that depends on football. It’s completely different, my future depends on music, nature and cycling than on football.
“When we cycled with my brother, he told me, ‘Don’t throw rocks on every dog that barks at you, you won’t arrive at your destination’.
“I’m coaching a big team, I’ll be criticised everyday. The question is how much importance I’ll give to that, I’ll not give any importance to it.
“I’ll be here until the club decides [otherwise], until then, I’ll be committed, excited and motivate my players to do their best. I’m already too old to worry about things that are just noise.”
