HE COULD have easily shot from the hip in typical Pitso Mosimane style.
But the Mamelodi Sundowns coach has reacted calmly to shocking allegations in Teko Modise’s biography, The Curse of Teko Modise.
In the memoir, Modise chronicles how his relationship with Mosimane turned frosty to the point where they weren’t on speaking terms of any kind in the two years leading up to his departure from Sundowns.
The former Bafana Bafana midfielder currently plays for Cape Town City FC, having left Downs when his contract expired in June.
“We never spoke. The only time we spoke to each other was to greet one another,” the book reads.
“This is a person I saw every day of my life. You see your coach more than you see your kids, and we never had any kind of conversation. I could have a conversation with anyone in the team but him.”
In an interview, Modise went further, detailing how his teammates even suggested he could be dating the same woman as Mosimane, so fractured was their relationship.
But Mosimane would not be drawn on the allegations.
“I don’t want to talk about Teko. . . he wrote a book, let him sell the book. Let’s not say things.
“Let’s not spoil his book. Let’s be nice. Let Teko be on a honeymoon with his book,” said Mosimane.
“I want to remain the way I was when I got him from Pillars. I didn’t say he must go. He left. I always said he would stay here until he wants to go. I’d never say he must go, he is a legend and I appreciate all the work he has done. He has done well for the club.
“He knows my contribution and I want it to remain like that.”
Modise said he realised either he or Mosimane had to leave the Brazilians and it was clear that the coach wasn’t going anywhere. “I was not in a position to disrespect him because, firstly, he is a father, secondly, he is a coach and thirdly, he is a legend in South African football.”
The two first worked together at SuperSport United 11 years ago, later at Bafana Bafana, and reunited at Sundowns in 2011.
