September’s role at Chippa more broad-based

The opportunity to be closer to his family was a big factor in Thabo September’s decision to join Chippa United in Gqeberha.

The former defender vacated his position at SuperSport United as the DStv Diski Challenge coach to join forces with Kwanele Kopo as a co-coach at Chippa.

Born in Knysna, some three hours or so away from the Windy City, September explained why he took up the challenge.

The 41-year-old guided Matsatsantsa a Pitori juniors to the reserve league title last season and his achievements clearly caught the attention of Chippa Chairman Siviwe Mpengesi.

He went on to also clarify his role, which is more than just being a senior coach at the Chilli Boys, who will be looking to start picking up points and avoid being sucked into a relegation battle in the second half of the season.

“The move was also about coming back and being closer to home because I’ve been at

SuperSport for a long time and my parents are not young anymore. I need to be close to them,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with Phakaaathi.

“When I’m here, home is less than three hours away as opposed to being in Gauteng which is far and takes more than 10 hours. The picture that was sold to me by the club is that I would still be working with the juniors at Chippa in addition to my role with the first team. I will still have the opportunity to work with youngsters but in a broader way than I was doing at

SuperSport.”

Kopo and September’s first assignment will be an away league encounter against Orlando Pirates in Soweto next month. Chippa are in 13th position on the log after 16 games and five points above the relegation zone.

“We just need to keep the status of the club in the league and then we can plan better for next season. That is our main focus now in the PSL,” he concluded when asked about their mandate for the remainder of the season.