In an interview on 94.7 radio station with Robert Marawa on Wednesday, Manqoba Mngqithi, the former Mamelodi Sundowns coach, said he was proud of his tenure at the club because he did his best.
Despite his unexpected sacking, he said he was grateful for the opportunity to serve Sundowns for “almost 12 years”.
Mngqithi was replaced on Tuesday by Miguel Cardoso of Portugal, who is the former mentor of Esperance of Tunisia.
“I think in my football career, I’ve been in this merry-go-round of being a head coach in and out,” said Mngqithi.
“I’m very grateful for what Sundowns has done for me over the years. I do not want to be the kind of guy who whenever the relationship ends, only wants to be negative.
“The truth is, I would not have been at Sundowns for all these years – I’ve been there for almost 12 years.
“I’ve enjoyed my time. We have won countless trophies; I don’t even know how many. I’ve enjoyed every moment during that time, and with different coaches.”
Mngqithi was full of praise for the supporting technical team, but felt that the turning point in his head-coach tenure was the back-to-back defeats to Stellenbosch FC.
“During my time, I had an exciting technical team who did their best. I’m sitting here very proud, knowing I did my best. I cannot complain and say, ‘Hey, maybe I should have, I could have’.
“As for the games I lost in the cup competitions, I believe the Stellenbosch matches were sore points, because that’s where I think we did not perform very well. It was just at the inception stages of my time (as the head coach).
“From that point onwards, we gave it our best shot, even those we did not win. I still believe we deserved to win with good matches (performances, in the games we lost).
“The last was probably one of the most difficult (CAF Champions League) matches this season.
“Not many people credit the opposition (Morocco’s AS FAR). But I think we will be in for a surprise if we think AS FAR is a pushover in the Champions League. They may be a new team, but they have recruited well.”