KADODIA CONTINUED

cern because these bigger clubs will come and offer you a proposal that you know exactly that it will get the attention of the player and, because of the player wanting to grow, you will have to support the decision he makes. We lost one player who was very key for us in (Lebohang) Maboe, who was important in attack and a defensive player (Bevan Fransman) who was the leader in the team. It is not easy to overcome a situation like that because the team was built around them, but like I have said, it’s something we have no control over. We don’t want to hold players back from wanting to achieve their dreams. Yes, we would love to keep our team and our players, but it’s the harsh reality of football that things change. We had to go out and get players to overcome the situation, but then you need to start building again. CA: Sure. FK:

So, honestly, you cannot hold anyone back from wanting to move on with their life. If a player’s aspirations are set on a better contract somewhere else, then you have to give them your blessings and help them move on. As long as the club reaches a mutual agreement with the offer that is being made, then you have to allow that situation. Ideally, we brought in the likes of Yannick Zakri, Keletso Makgalwa, Keagan Buchanan, to name a few.

CA: Have these players been able to fill the void?

FK:

Well, the thing is that the coach basically gave us that shopping list that he wanted and that he thought would be good for the team. It’s not necessarily that the players are replace- ments for the players that we lost because every player is different and they will give you a different element in the game. Again, the coach will have to play these players according to their strengths and make them adapt to the system that he wants them to play. The players that we brought in, the expectation was for them to adapt to the team and help us achieve our goals. We had a setback with Buchanan, where he suffered an ACL injury and that was unfortunate. Zakri, on the other hand, there is a lot riding on him and we are aware of what he can do on the field and I think it is just a matter of time before he gets consistency on his side. coming… FK:

CA: As a club boss, it must be really tough having to make that decision to get rid of your coach, even when you see that the results aren’t forth-

(Cuts in) On that point, let me start by talking about Fadlu. Football is about results and we supported coach Fadlu from the time he was developed into being the assistant coach at the club. We had the patience to let him grow into his role here and I believe he had great training and now some experience under his belt. For us at the time, he was the ideal person and he did his job tremendously. The reality is that when you sit in the position that we found ourselves in, you need to make drastic decisions. It wasn’t easy to just part ways with him because he was a long servant of Maritzburg United and you can imagine his disappointment at the time, but these things happen and it was unfortunate. We are grateful for his contribution to the team and for what he was able to achieve, but looking at the situation that we were faced with, we needed someone with experi

ence that could save the day. CA: Thanks for your time, Chairman. Hopefully you are able to survive relegation just as you did two seasons ago when you did it in the last 10 minutes of the campaign. FK:

“You can imagine his disappointment at the time.”