Mamelodi Sundowns future in doubt for Monnapule Saleng after Miguel Cardoso warning

Monnapule Saleng’s future at Mamelodi Sundowns is increasingly uncertain after coach Miguel Cardoso said the club had made repeated efforts to help the player adapt, but could no longer rely on his commitment to the team.

The Portuguese coach confirmed that Saleng is not currently training with the first team because of disciplinary issues. Cardoso also suggested the situation may eventually force the former Orlando Pirates player to consider continuing his career elsewhere.

Speaking at a press conference at the MTN headquarters in Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon, Cardoso said Sundowns had tried to integrate Saleng into the squad and make him feel part of the group. However, he indicated that the relationship had become difficult to sustain.

The coach said he did not want to discuss the matter again, insisting that it was now an issue for the club rather than one for the coaching staff.

“I don’t want to speak too much about that because now Saleng is a club’s issue and not the coach’s issue. It was never a coach issue. He was always a player that we gave a lot of effort. We tried so much, so much, so much…pushing him towards the group, towards the dynamic of the group, towards the behaviours that a professional player has to have, the mental stability a player has to have. We have a lot of understanding of what are the rules and the locker room has rules,” Cardoso told media.

Cardoso said a repeated failure to follow team expectations had undermined the club’s confidence in being able to plan around Saleng.

“When a player breaks systematically these kind of things towards the teammates, towards the coaches, towards the club, we don’t know what we can count on. So, there is a moment that we say how can we count on something that we don’t know what he is going to do. Imagine you train the whole week normal and then you put his name on the list and then the day we waiting for him to enter the bus, he doesn’t appear. These things didn’t happen once. It happened twice, three four times, being the last to arrive and the first to go away. It’s difficult to have a process of development of a player. We tried to give him at the beginning of the season to give him a lot of love. Our attitude we had in him after he failed with us was ‘let’s not put him apart Let’s embrace him, let’s give him love and let’s make him feel important’.”

The coach added that he had personally attempted to help Saleng become more involved with the squad, including an incident in which he danced with the player during a team gathering.

“I don’t know if you remember, but my assistant showed me on the media that there was a moment when I was dancing with him in the middle of the circle, myself trying to make him understand how we wanted him to integrate into the family. But to be part of a family, you’ve got to really want to be in the dynamic of the family. It’s the last time I am going to speak about it because it’s a club issue.”

Saleng’s absence from first-team training leaves his position at Mamelodi Sundowns in doubt, with Cardoso’s comments indicating that the club must now decide how to resolve the disciplinary situation.