Chiefs on right track by hiring Bartlett
Technical section was under strength
In appointing Shaun Bartlett as their new assistant coach, Kaizer Chiefs have taken the right step in catching up with other giants in the Absa Premiership. Amakhosi had been the only giant lagging behind in the composition of their technical department in the past few seasons. Rivals Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns have taken the lead in employing highly qualified head coaches and assistants. Pirates have a powerful brains trust in Micho and Rulani Mokwena, while Sundowns have the deadly combination of Pitso Mosimane and Manqoba Mngqithi. In appointing Bartlett, now Chiefs also have that pedigree as the former Bafana Bafana star is an accomplished tactician in his own right. The 46year-old led Golden Arrows to top-flight promotion in the 2014/15 season and has been in charge of AmaTuks. Without taking anything away from former assistant Patrick Mabedi, the Malawian clearly had limited capabilities as a technical team contributor. This is why in the end the club chose to also terminate his contract after having served under Steve Komphela and Giovanni Solinas. Middendorp admitted that the club had to hire a very capable assistant coach. “In terms of coaching things are different. In Bangkok we had 15 technical team members where each one had abilities in the physical and analytical side [of the game],” Middendorp said.
“From this point it’s important to have a technical team member who is a coach, I hate the word assistant coach. It’s not a one-man show anymore and everybody has to contribute to come into this responsibility. It was not like this in 2005,” Middendorp said.