Mamelodi Sundowns senior coach Steve Komphela has warned Masandawana supporters of a storming period as the team goes through massive changes after the unexpected departure of Rulani Mokwena.
Mokwena departed the DStv Premiership champions following a reported fall-out with sporting director Flemming Berg, before since joining Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco.
That opened the door for Komphela’s shock return to the club after he himself had departed following rumours of a fall-out with Mokwena.
Speaking to the Masandawana’s Pitchside podcast, Komphela admitted the recent restructuring might affect initial performances as the team is set to go through a transitional period.
“We are just looking forward to the season, with the changes it’s obviously going to be a moment of development,” Komphela said.
“Then it goes back to what I once said, and somebody was laughing at me, that in any team development, there are five stages that Bruce Tuckman (an American actor) once spoke about.
“He said ‘When you form a new team or develop a new brand,’ there’s a forming phase, you have the storming phase, the norming phase, the performing phase and then excellence.
“Now at the beginning, there’s going to be a bit of a storm which is normal because I’m now taking a seat that (was) taken by you. You feel a bit uncomfortable,” he said.
“It’s like at your home when you are introducing a new pet, now this set of dogs are like ‘wait a minute, what’s happening here?’ the discomfort is normal. That’s the storming phase.
“The quicker you hit the norming phase, the quicker you will hit the performing phase. The quicker you get to the performing phase, you will excel. These are the stages we have to accept, know they exist, and we have to go through them.
“We have to normalise things quickly enough so that we can perform.”
Sundowns are currently preparing for the upcoming 2024/25 season in Austria and have so far suffered defeat in their opening friendly matches against SV Sandhausen and Dynamo Kyiv.
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Komphela, who had previous coaching stints with Moroka Swallows and Golden Arrows, said though he was away from Sundowns, he always followed what was happening and is happy to be back assisting coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
The former Kaizer Chiefs boss requested support and promised to work hard as a union to ensure more success for Downs.
“I’m quite privileged to be back at Mamelodi Sundowns. Even when I was out there, my eyes were always here because the work at Sundowns is so appealing,” Komphela said.
“Whether you are inside or outside, you are bound to look at.”
