On Sunday, history turns a page at Mamelodi Sundowns, with Manqoba Mngqithi tackling his first match as the club's sole head coach, but even he will appreciate that it is a responsibility fraught with expectation.
For all intents and purposes, it is a dream job, one many coaches in the land would give an arm and a leg to be handed. The quality in playing personnel is arguably second to none in the league, the ambition to conquer Africa reason enough to kick the blankets and report to c/o Allandale and Dunlop Road in Chloorkop every morning, and the pressure to maintain domestic dominance is what keeps the heart pumping.
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Not to mention the perks, chief among them the handsome win bonus structure.
However, as they say, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Firstly, there is the matter of not just winning but doing so while playing a brand of football that will find favour with both the Yellow Nation and the powers that be at the Tshwane giants.
After all, when the Sundowns technical team was reshuffled from a co-coaching arrangement in 2022, with Rulani Mokwena taking over as sole head coach and Mngqithi demoted to senior coach and Steve Komphela becoming first team coach, the reason was made clear.
"These changes were necessitated by the poor performances and unconvincing victories that the club has experienced for quite some time.
"Mamelodi Sundowns has a clear objective of becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and its recent average and lacklustre performances are contrary to this objective," said a statement at the time, in part.
Mngqithi has already hinted at a change in style of play from that of his predecessor.
"So, in my opinion of how I see football, you have to try to… in as much as we play for ball possession, you must also play attacking football, and there's a very clear difference in possession football and attacking football and personally. I'm a coach who prefers to attack the lines than to enjoy longer spells of possession," he told journalists at the MTN8 launch last week.
Added to the mix is the burden of post- and pre-match technical reports that must be handed to management before and after every match. For, it has come to light during the court case between the club and their former coach, Pitso Mosimane, that after his salary was increased from R840 000 to R1.5 million a month, the weight of expectation on the latter became so heavy to a point he became concerned about his health.
Sundowns' taxing schedule, where they are expected to compete in seven competitions this season, means it is not easy for the coach to find time to draft the pre- and post-match reports, but as they say in kasi: a job is a job.
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In the case of Mosimane, these reports were reportedly to be submitted to the club's then technical director Jose Ramon Alexanko, with a copy of these also submitted to the technical subcommittee of the board at the same time as the submission to Alexanko.
However, whether the fact Mngqithi is on a much lower salary than the one Mosimane was on prior to leaving will mean a lessened load, remains to be seen.
In addition to that, it was revealed, the former Bafana Bafana coach and the senior club's technical team were expected to, once every month, report in person and discuss the pre- and post-match reports with the board of Sundowns.
It is also telling that both Mosimane and Mokwena left after reported tensions with certain members of the club's hierarchy.
All of the above said, the pages of Mngqithi's tenure as a Sundowns head coach are blank, but the journey starts on Sunday at Lucas Moripe Stadium, the venue of their famous 3-0 CAF Champions League final first leg victory over Zamalek back in 2016.