‘Journeyman’ Solinas to coach Kaizer Chiefs
KAIZER Chiefs opted for a journeyman coach who is good at nurturing talent and can get his team to play exciting football in their appointment of Steve Komphela’s replacement after an almost three-month long search.
Giovanni Solinas is not exactly the “top coach” Chiefs’ football manager Bobby Motaung promised Amakhosi would hire with the aim of restoring the club’s dignity and bring back glory days.
But the Italian has coached in the country before, with two stints at Free State Stars, which means he can hit the ground running as he must deliver as soon as possible.
In his stint at Stars the Italian got the Bethlehem side playing some good football and he brought the best out of players like Lucky Mohomi, Ayanda Nkosi, and Sello Japhta before they were snapped by teams with bigger pockets. At Chiefs Solinas has two jobs – to win trophies and refine the talent of a number of graduates from the club’s academy who have muscled their way into the first team.
Solinas is capable of doing both but hasn’t done the former, winning trophies, enough in his stints in Algeria and Saudi Arabia. The Italian, who obtained his Uefa A Licence a decade ago, hasn’t stayed long in his previous jobs – hopping from one post to the other for various reasons. But Chiefs’ management are calm in how they treat coaches, they aren’t trigger-happy and they give the incumbent time to do his job. Solinas will also be happy to be working in a club that can keep their best talent.
The 50-year-old inherits a good team with a solid foundation. Despite his failure to bring a trophy at Naturena, Komphela built a good team from the one he inherited, with a number of players having reached their peak. There is a good balance of youth and experience with a sprinkling of winners in players like Itumeleng Khune, Khama Billiat, Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Leonardo Castro, who have won almost every trophy on offer in the country.
Having missed the most part of pre-season, Solinas will assess the team this morning in the Bokone Bophirima Maize Cup in Orkney. Chiefs take on Buya Msuthu at 10am at James Motlatsi Stadium. Chippa United will square off with Free State Stars at 12pm in the second match. The winners will meet in the final at 4pm.
Amakhosi are also set to take on Cape Town City in Mbombela in a friendly, and Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium next Saturday in the Shell Helix Ultra Cup. Solinas should be in the dugout against City and the Brazilians, continuing where Patrick Mabedi left things.
The former Chiefs’ captain led Amakhosi for three weeks in pre-season while the club searched for a coach. Motaung made it clear that Mabedi wouldn’t be in charge at the start of the season or in the future. Despite those words, Motaung revealed that Mabedi will remain as an assistant even if the new coach brings his own staff. Motaung was unfazed that Chiefs were concluding their third week of pre-season without a coach before the club announced Solinas yesterday.
“Pre-season is preparation,” Motaung said. “You know that you can hire a coach in pre-season, he loses three games including the top eight and you fire him in August or September?
“It’s normal because he wouldn’t have delivered. We want to curb those problems. We want to appoint a coach who will stay here for the long term. We want to appoint a coach who is going to give us a vision, a long-term plan and sustain success. That’s why the brand is so big.”