PSL coaches taking SA football nowhere fast
Clubs must employ experts to handle the appointment of coaches for our professional football
● Eight coaches have been fired by Premier Soccer League clubs five months into the 2022-23 season in a merry-go-round on steroids.
John Maduka and Kaitano Tembo were the latest this week to get the chop from their struggling teams, Martizburg United and Sekhukhune United, respectively.
The duo joined Daine Klate (Chippa United), Brandon Truter (AmaZulu FC) and Dylan Kerr (Swallows FC), all seeking employment elsewhere. Two others who also left clubs they started the season with, Dan Malesela (Royal AM) and Romain Folz (Marumo Gallants), have been lucky to be hired at Gallants and AmaZulu respectively.
But what has happened is nothing new. It has become routine to such an extent that anybody who follows SA football would have been surprised if the script had been any different.
Only five clubs Mamelodi Sundowns, Cape Town City, Royal AM, Stellenbosch FC and Maritzburg United — did not change coaches last season.
Three of the five have changed head coaches this season.
Like Malesela and Folz, the fired coaches stand a good chance of being rehired by clubs that went into the two-month World Cup-enforced break without coaches.
The rapid rotation of coaches raises serious questions about the standard of the game in SA. What does this constant turnover do to the end product — to the kind of quality expected of teams in the top league?
Former TS Galaxy head coach Zipho Dlangalala, who follows football trends worldwide, is not impressed. “We are not seeing enough of our local clubs/teams at any level exhibiting any particular style. The clubs are not standing for a specific identity. Teams just play. Clubs just employ and contract coaches,” said Dlangalala.
“It is doubtful, with all respect, if any due diligence is done prior to the appointment of coaches (with specific attention to the compatibility of the coach and the club) which could be the reason for such turnover of the coaches in our country.
“In proper environments, the clubs would not change their tradition to accommodate an individual. Hence, for most of them, their coaches stay long not because they win all the time, but because they fulfil the requirements of the club and its mission. “It is strange, if not unusual, that we only have two clubs (City and Stellenbosch) who today have the same coaches that they had 12 months ago. For the rest, it is different.”
A typical example of the coaching stability that Dlangalala is talking about is that of Atletico Madrid, who have had Diego Simeone as head coach since 2011.
Four coaches that have been sacked in the English Premier League this season include Scott Parker at Bournermouth, Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, Bruno Lage at Wolves and Steven Gerrard at Everton. Southampton's Ralph Hasenhutti could be next in line to be fired after his team lost five league matches from the opening eight.
In trying to protect their football and clubs, Dlangalala says the Spanish La Liga does not allow a coach who has been sacked to coach another club in the same league during the same season, as has happened with Malesela and Folz in the PSL this season. The changing of coaches in the PSL does not happen only at small or new clubs who fear relegation. SA giants such as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are among clubs firing and hiring at an alarming rate. With Arthur Zwane, Chiefs are on their sixth coach in seven years and they’re on an unprecedented run lacking trophies. Pirates have been worse, with their current mentor, Spaniard
Jose Riveiro, the ninth coach since Eric Tinkler left in July 2015. Pirates, who have not won the SA league title since 2012, have won only the MTN8 in 2020 in the last seven years (but this could change if they win against AmaZulu in another MTN8 played late yesterday).
Sundowns can claim to be the only club with stability and success in their coaching department since appointing Pitso Mosimane in December 2012.
Only Mosimane and his two previous assistants Rulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi have been at the helm at Sundowns in the past 10 years. Mosimane won 11 trophies in his time with Sundowns while Mngqithi and Mokwena, the newest head coach, have added four gongs in the last two seasons. What are the implications of this rapid rotation of coaches in the PSL for SA football — when players have to constantly adapt to new tactics, playing styles, traditions and philosophies depending on who is in charge rather than what their club is renowned for?
“Had all our clubs been able to have the people that possess technical expertise to manage the technical direction of the club and to maintain the culture and philosophy of their club, even if the coaches would change, we would still know the product that each club sells,” says Dlangalala. “For clubs to keep their coaches, they should know what they want so that they also know who they want. To want a coach to win games is a very short-term goal.” A quick-fix strategy has unfortunately been adopted by almost all 16 PSL clubs. The sooner they do what Dlangalala is suggesting — employ technical experts to handle the appointment and monitoring of coaches — the sooner our professional football will move in a better direction. For now, it is just about appointing coaches whenever there’s a vacancy here or there.