Current Highlands Park mentor Allan Freese believes Rulani Mokwena's disappointing spells at Orlando Pirates and Chippa United helped him grow as a coach.
The 37-year-old Mamelodi Sundowns head coach is one of the most exciting new coaches on the continent, and Freese knows him well from his technical team experience at Platinum Stars.
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Mokwena had also worked under coaches Steve Komphela, Cavin Johnson, Pitso Mosimane (at Sundowns) and Milutin Sredojevic (at Pirates) in the past.
“He educated himself, that’s it. He went overseas to educate himself; he took time I don’t know maybe at home to educate himself with football,” Freese told Marawa Sports Worldwide.
Mokwena's first experience as a head coach was not an easy one, having taken charge of Bucs, after Sredojevic unexpectedly left, for just over a dozen games and producing inconsistent results for a team under pressure to win trophies every season.
“When they sent him to Chippa, he learnt there the hard way. It’s part of the learning curve, at Pirates he was part of the learning curve," added Freese.
“Him at Sundowns with Pitso (Mosimane) and the coaches around him, it was part of the learning curve so he has really educated himself so he has learnt not to make the same mistakes every time.
“Now at Sundowns, okay, we all say this ‘they got all the money so they can get the best players’. Is that true or not? But that is what I’m saying, he has gone there and learnt now these are the downfalls I must avoid.
“'It cost me at Pirates, it cost me at Chippa' (Freese imagines what Mokwena would think).
"You understand? So he has learnt and continuously learns so that is the best part of it,” Freese said.
Mokwena and his team are up in the North of the continent this weekend when they face Tunisia’s Esperance in the semi-final first leg of the CAF Champions League on Saturday.
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