The jury is still out on Chiefs’ appointment

We welcome back Italian coach Giovanni Solinas to South Africa, though it has to be said the appointment raised eyebrows, especially when a club of Kaizer Chiefs’ calibre hires a coach who does not have a history of winning trophies.

But since this is football and pretty much anything is possible, I think the management sat down and looked at his coaching style and his player management style and I think they decided he would be the coach who might help them win trophies and change the for- tunes of Amakhosi.

It is normally a high-risk thing to do but Chiefs decided they would go with a coach who has never won any silverware. It will now be up to him to win at least one. Looking at his short spell in South Africa, he really helped Free State Stars and led them to the top-eight before he left.

He proved he has those qualities but those qualities will only be really displayed if he can win a trophy at Chiefs and repay management for the confidence they have invested in him.

He managed Algerian side ES Setif and with the Glamour Boys going to play in the Caf Confederation Cup next season, Solinas’ bit of experience on the continent will come in handy, especially against those teams in North Africa who have been dominating the scene on the continent.

Having a coach with the experience I think it will help Chiefs to do well in the Confederation Cup. He knows how to prepare for stubborn African opponents and that will go a long way.

Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung once said a couple of seasons ago that Chiefs, together with their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates are too big to be coached by local coaches.

I feel that statement was relevant and had more truth back then than it does now. I think we have a lot of talent in Africa, the problem is that we don’t believe in it.

Yes, we’ve seen coaches such as Steve Komphela at the helm of the club, and he was given enough time there and he didn’t perform. However, I would have loved it if another African coach had been given the opportunity to coach a team like Chiefs. And not only there, but all the teams in the country and the continent at large need to start considering appointing home-brewed coaches.

We have seen in the past where European coaches come in and they are average at best. They test themselves, only to find out they can’t perform. Others do and they become fine coaches. Imagine if a local coach is given that kind of support, we will be a force on the continent.

I believe there are a lot of coaches

here, it is just a matter of going out and identifying them. Given the chance, Africa can produce coaches who can coach anywhere on the continent and even abroad.

Now that the World Cup is done and dusted, it is business as usual and Mamelodi Sundowns resume in the Champions League in Togo today. Coach Pitso Mosimane’s side are not sitting in the best position in their group and this will be their biggest test.

The club have lost a few of their key players who have played a massive role in their success in the Champions League in recent years.

There are a lot of players at theclub, the quality is of a high standard and I don’t see Mosimane finding it hard to continue to be successful with the squad he has at his disposal.