Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela has advised Orlando Pirates caretaker coach Rhulani Mokwena to use the pressure he faces to grow as a coach, adding he knows very well what the young coach is going through.

Mokwena stepped in for Milutin Sredojevic just a few weeks into the season after the Serbian coach’s shock exit from the Soweto giants.

Mokwena has struggled to find consistency and although his team have been showing signs of last season’s form, the expected results have not been forthcoming.

Speaking after Golden Arrows’ victory over Mamelodi Sundowns, Komphela advised his young colleague to enjoy the experience of coaching a club like Pirates.

‘Coach Rhulani is in an environment where it’s not easy, I know very well what he’s going through,’ said the Arrows coach.

‘It’s not easy but we always talk. I tell him, “Listen, focus, it’s a great honour and privilege to be there, enjoy doing your job so that after two years you can say I was at Pirates and I enjoyed it.”

‘Akulalwa laphaya [You don’t sleep there], if you sleep you are lucky. When I left the environment I was at [Kaizer Chiefs] I had grey hair. When I went there it was pitch black like coach Mandla [Ncikazi, laughs]. By the time I left I wasn’t the same.’

Komphela is no stranger to the environment Mokwena faces after he spent three trophy-less campaigns at Chiefs, but he believes he grew from the experience.

‘So it tells you that growth, the greatest growth, happens in discomfort. If you don’t want to grow, be comfortable, but if you want to grow, get in the torture that is uncomfortable,’ added the former Bloemfontein Celtic coach.

‘I wouldn’t be the person that I am when I went to Celtic had I not been through that. I wouldn’t be that person I am at Arrows had I not gone through that.

‘I never got bitter, but I got better so that others can benefit. I was in a pressure cooker [before] and now somebody is enjoying the meal. I’m being dished and who is enjoying it? Arrows. So be it. That’s how I look at it.’