Vilakazi happy to sharpen Golden Arrows’ reserves

AFTER becoming the only coach to win then the reserve league’s championship twice, Vusumuzi Vilakazi surprisingly reveals that when he decided to retire at the age of 28, coaching was the last ‘after football’ career he thought he would ever pursue.

Vilakazi thus confirmed, it was actually chairlady Mato Madlala who asked him to stay within the club’s corridors after his retirement, thus he assumed the role of communications manager. After Arrows won back their PSL status in the 2015/2016 season, it was also the chairlady who convinced the 35 yearold to lead the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team and add his playing experience.

“I never wanted to be a coach,” Vilakazi said. “The thought had never crossed my mind before. I thought if I stayed in football, I would be in the management structures, but not coaching.”

Then how did he manage to turn the reserves into a well-oiled machine in only three seasons?

“I had to honour and respect the chairlady’s decision…even though there were challenges in our first season; we managed to win the league and that served as a motivation. As much as we couldn’t defend the league – which they lost to Mamelodi Sundowns– the love of coaching was growing. But I knew that love alone wouldn’t be enough, I needed to uplift myself going forward.”

‘Kanu’ says the reason he decided for an early retirement was because of the number of years he spent with Arrows.He joined the club as a teenager and as such, it was hard for him to settle for another team and he’s always wanted to hang up his boots on a high.

“When I took the decision to retire, it was purely based on the fact that I’ve spent over a decade in the club’s set-up,” Vilakazi said. “Even before I joined the club, I told myself I want to stop playing when I was on top of my game, and that is when people still want to see me play. I didn’t take a long time to decide on my retirement and as such, it was an instant call to make.”

At the helm, Kanu works alongside another club legend Papi Zothwane. Vilakazi says their success at Abafana Bes’thende’s reserve side is based on their understanding of the club’s culture.

“In our playing days, we were always together. When I decided to work with him as a coach, I knew we would always have mutual understanding,” Vilakazi said.

“When you bring someone into the club, it has to be someone who knows our culture and philosophy, and Zothwane was more relevant to what we wanted.”