The lockdown is upon us, and as is the case everywhere, local football has ground to a standstill.

This, to the frustration of the multitudes of fans, who not only appreciate the serious business side, but also enjoy a laugh at some of the antics the beautiful game sometimes provides. 

The local game is no slouch, and has churned out some truly wacky characters and behaviours over the years. They range from the vintage stuff, such as when the time erstwhile Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana coach Frenchman Philippe Troussier, in a fit of pique, dumped a basket-full of bread rolls on players, including Doctor Khumalo, to the more recent baffling moment, when Mamelodi Sundowns defender Mzikayise Mashaba copped a ban after he 'substituted himself' at half time.

Mashaba reportedly spit his dummy after getting irritated by teammates who gave him a not-so inspirational pep-talk. Fast forward to the year 2020, when the all-conquering vuvuzela has been silenced by Covid-19, leaving a void for supporters to fondly remember some of the funny antics of PSL coaches.

1. Everything Pitso Mosimane-related

Mosimane the achiever is just as compelling as Mosimane the unapologetic 'Chief Stirrer'. From the Mamelodi Sundowns coach's animated gestures on the sidelines during matches, to his constant jabs at opposition coaches, especially poor Ernst Middendorp, 'Jingles' is not only a national treasure, but a gift for journalists who often have to contend with seriously uninspiring sound bites.

The ever creative Mosimane has also coined the catchphrase "I've seen this movie before, you know the story", followed by 'I mean, really' which has quickly become part of the local football lexicon.

Being the master of the back-handed compliment Mosimane has said: 'Chiefs also have to play Orlando Pirates and us, so the title race is very much alive. They are on honeymoon but give them respect because they are scoring a lot of goals'.  And this 'It's like we are at school, I'm doing more than 10 modules and you're doing three or four. At the end of the year you must pass because you did fewer modules than me'.

2. Steve Komphela's impeccable English, hilarious analogies and sharp dress sense

If more of us scribes took a page out of 'Stevovo's' page, our language skills would not be so distressing to our sub-editors. Komphela would always be remembered for the nugget about bikinis and statistics.

But he's come up with some beauties since, such as - '​Look, even if the landlord doesn’t renew the lease, the tenant who once lived in the house will still know exactly where the roof is leaking' which he said before his team Golden Arrows played his former team Chiefs'.

Right after he lost the match, the affable former Bafana Bafana captain said: 'The tenant who once lived in the house is the one who knows best where the roof is leaking. But sometimes, the landlord fixes the roof and the leak is hard to find'.

On a different occasion, Komphela said 'If you are given a task to build a castle out of plastic chairs, you put one on top of the other, and they pile high. They are not going to drop because they go high - they drop because you become anxious,".

3. Gavin Hunt's provocative comments and quick temper

Huntie will have a go at a player on the sidelines, on live television, basically anywhere he feels like it. But to his credit, he will willingly and publicly apologise to the wronged party. What the public is missing too is his long-running beef with Mosimane.

The duo have traded barbs over the years.  A few years ago Mosimane likened playing at Bidvest Stadium to a visit to Stoke City - an English club that has for the longest time been infamous for their physicality and 'skop and donder' style of play.

Hunt and the students had the last laugh by winning the 2017 league title for the first time in the club’s history. The victory was labelled as a 'win of humility over arrogance'.

This season relations seem to have thawed a little, with Hunt refusing to be drawn into the drama around Amakhosi and Downs' title race. When it was suggested he may want to hand the championship to Chiefs just to spite Mosimane, Hunt paid his rival a compliment, saying 'Pitso doesn't have to rely on me, he knows he can do that for himself,".