Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has responded to Sead Ramovic’s latest tirade, saying the TS Galaxy coach is “crying for attention”.
Mokwena was in good spirits after his side collected their third win in seven days, beating AmaZulu 3-0 on Tuesday night.
The Masandawana coach also addressed local media for the first time since Ramovic had opened up on their phone call, claiming Mokwena had insulted and threatened him.
But a calm Mokwena wasn’t too keen to enter into a war of words with the TS Galaxy coach.
“You don’t need to hear my side of the story, I don’t think you’d want to hear my side of the story,” he stated.
“Let’s leave it as it is, he is right and he is right. Let’s leave him to be right, I’m wrong, I’m the bad guy.”
When asked whether he will shake Ramovic’s hands when the two meet in the league on 6 March, Mokwena did open up a bit more, claiming the Serbian is seeking attention with his comments.
“If I have to say something to Sead, again I’ll pick up the phone and I’ll say it on the phone. I do not think that it is for the public, I don’t think,” he added.
“Because we go then into a space we’re not supposed to go. I don’t mind if he comes for me, there are a lot of coaches who have come for me.
“You see when you start to say ‘the club has spent so much money’, you also borderline disrespecting the Motsepe family, who are people who give so much of their hard-earned money from the family into football and many other [things].
“You saw the other day they’ve given money to scholar and debts of study debts, and then you come and talk like that.
“Sometimes as coaches we have to be careful, very, very careful. Because I sit here and I’ll say things but why should I say things about TS Galaxy? Forget that it’s not even Sead’s club, it’s Tim Sukazi’s club and I’ve got a lot of respect for Tim also. I can’t sit here and talk other things, there’s a lot of things I could tell you.
“Let’s go back to the recording that you got from Soccer Laduma, there was a recording from a meeting and you heard things that were said there. It’s very easy to go into that space but I can’t go into that space, because I have to respect South Africans and people who work very hard like Tim to run a football club and all the things he’s done.
“Sead, you must give him, guys all he’s crying for, I don’t know why you can’t hear the underlying message – it’s underlying – all he’s crying for, he’s won five games in a row, give him attention, give him praise, give it to him.
“The guy is pleading ‘I’ve won five games in a row, no one is talking’, give it to him. Mahlatsi, put him on the headlines, why don’t you do it? He’s won five games, he’s got eight assists from his left-back, he’s told you guys, give him what he wants.
“Because if you don’t give him what he wants, he goes and seeks for it and then he comes for people like myself. Ok, no problem. But give him what he wants, he wants attention. You see what he’s doing, he’s crying out for attention, so give him a little bit, talk to him a little bit, link him to clubs, he wants that.
“If he wants to shake my hand, I’ll shake his, no problem.”