The departure of Rulani Mokwena as Mamelodi Sundowns head coach closes the chapter on one of the most successful stints in the dugout in South African football as it heralds a new era for the DStv Premiership side.
Mokwena won four league titles in a row as co-coach and later sole head coach of Sundowns, a feat no other tactician in the domestic game has managed.
He came close to guiding The Brazilians to a domestic league ‘Invincibles’ season in 2023-24, only to lose their final day of the campaign to Cape Town City.
He still took the side to a record points haul for a 30-game DStv Premiership season of 73, a record winning margin of 23 points ahead of nearest rivals Orlando Pirates, and a record goal-difference of +41.
With just 11 goals conceded in 30 games, his side also equalled the PSL record of Kaizer Chiefs (2003-04) as Sundowns dominated the local league like no other side has in the past.
He won the inaugural eight-team Africa Football League, so has a continental title under his belt, and lost the finals of the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup, both to boyhood club Orlando Pirates.
But the biggest disappointment will have come in the CAF Champions League, where he could not guide them to the final again, falling short in the semifinals to Esperance of Tunisia.
Mokwena was appointed co-coach along with Manqoba Mngqithi in the 2020-21 season following the departure of Pitso Mosimane to Al Ahly that campaign.
They won the league, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup in their first two seasons, but a difficult start to the 2022-23 campaign saw Mokwena put in sole charge and Mngqithi relegated to his assistant.
He won his first game as head coach 5-0 against Maritzburg United and would go the next 53 DStv Premiership matches without defeat, smashing the previous South African record, before that last day loss to City.
The side won 40 (D13) of those fixtures and managed to keep 37 clean sheets in that time. It included winning the first 11 games of the 2023-24 league season, almost ending the title race before it began.
City were party-poopers on that occasion too as the winning run was ended by a 0-0 draw in Cape Town on Christmas eve.
That was not his best run though, he delivered 15 league wins in a row in 2022-23 to ensure the championship crown.
As coach at Sundowns he won seven trophies in all in the four seasons he was either in joint or sole charge, the four league titles, MTN8, Nedbank Cup and AFL.
His record in sole charge of the team across all competitions was P93 W60 D26 L7 GF158 GA46. That is a 65 per cent win ratio.
As co-coach with Mngqithi his record read P109 W69 D29 L11 GF207 GA68. That is a 63 per cent win ratio.
After brief spells with Orlando Pirates (P15 W4 D7 L4 GF20 GA20) and Chippa United (P1 W0 D1 L0 GF0 GA0) earlier in his career, he still has a remarkable career record, losing only 10 per cent of the games he has coached.
His overall record reads P218 W133 D63 L22 GF386 GA134 with a win ratio of 61 per cent.
