BEST BED FELLOWS

MICH D’AVRAY AND TERRY ACKHURST The pair took Cape Town Spurs to the league and cup double in 1995. D’Avray had arrived from Moroka Swallows while Ackhurst had been a coach at Spurs before but was also a school headmaster.

GORDON IGESUND AND AFZAL KHAN Igesund was never a fan of assistant coaches but wanted his team manager next to him in what developed into a dependent relationship. “It was 24-7 with Gordon,” laughs Khan.

EDDIE LEWIS AND SANDILE BALI

The two worked well together at Blackpool and Swallows and on each occasion, Bali got to take over from Lewis and forge his own success.

SCREAMER TSHABALALA AND TROTT MOLOTO The two started together at Sundowns when Tshabalala was appointed and Moloto was still a player. Tshabalala asked Moloto, who was then combining his footballing career with being a teacher, to retire and become his assistant.

MARIO TUANE AND ANGELO TSICHLAS When Tshabalala left Sundowns in 1988, Tuane was approached to take over at the Brazilians. But the veteran Chilean did not want to give up his salary at Giant Blackpool, so he offered a 50-50 deal to his old assistant Tsichlas to keep the seat warm.

TED DUMITRU AND FAROUK KHAN Dumitru did not like too many contrary opinions but Khan learnt how best to work with him and to make their relationship a profitable one, especially with championship success at Chiefs.

ROGER DE SA AND ERIC TINKLER

The relationship started at Wits but flourished at Orlando Pirates with Tinkler the tactician and De Sa the charismatic leader.

GAVIN HUNT AND THOMAS MADIGAGE Hunt would leap into the arms of his assistant when SuperSport were winning games or chase him around the technical area in excited celebration.

OWEN DA GAMA AND ALLAN FREESE

The pair were both old professionals who had played at the top flight level and had a successful combination from the early days of Silver Stars.

PITSO MOSIMANE AND MANQOBA MNGQITHI Mosimane cleverly wanted a solid sounding board so employed a head coach as his assistant and Mngqithi arrived with trophy winning credentials.

ERNST MIDDENDORP AND FADLU DAVIDS

The tetchy German has chased away assistants he did not want but had a clear affinity for Davids, and now has his younger brother Maheer as his No. 2