Will co-coaching stand the test of time in SA?
There’s a saying that ‘you cannot put two bulls in one kraal’ and the demotion of Manqoba Mngqithi from head to senior coach at Mamelodi Sundowns highlighted this co-coaching trend in the domestic league.
Co-coaching is, in fact, not something new in SA football circles. Legends of the game Doctor Khumalo and Donald “Ace” Khuse once teamed up at Kaizer Chiefs from November 2002 to May 2003. Amakhosi won more than 50% of their matches in charge (15 out of 29), but were
beaten by Jomo Cosmos in the Coca-cola final and finished the season empty-handed. The same thing happened when they took over from Vladimir Vermezovic in the 2011/12 season, again ending the season without a trophy.
Over at Chloorkop, Neil Tovey and Miguel Gamondi served as co-coaches for Mamelodi Sundowns when Angel Cappa resigned and won the league in the 2006/07 season, but were let go early the next season and Gordon Igesund took over.
Fast forward to today and many other clubs have done it or
in Sundowns’ case, repeated it.
When Pitso Mosimane left Sundowns in September 2020 and joined Egyptian giants Al Ahly, Manqoba Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena were appointed co-coaches, with the former having the final say. They were later joined by Steve Komphela as senior coach. To their credit, Sundowns won the treble last season (league, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup).
The situation changed earlier this week at Chloorkop after management expressed concern with “unconvincing” results despite being top of the log, with Mokwena now as head coach. Komphela was elevated to first team coach, and Mngqithi demoted to senior coach.
But you have to go behind-thescenes to see that having coaches in this situation is no walk in the park. In September 2021, reports emerged of in-fighting at Sundowns, with allegations that Mngqithi undermined Mokwena during a training session, in his absence.
“In any organisation, any household, if ever there are any relations, of course, there is going to be one or two squabbles or disagreements. Those should not be blown out of proportion,” Mokwena told the media, and admitted there was an “element of truth” to the reports.
For obvious reasons, co-coaching has been a continuous subject of debate and Fadlu Davids, who was a co-coach with Mandla Ncikazi at Orlando Pirates until the end of last season, who weighed in, expressing concerns. “There will always be a
Tiyani wa ka Mabasa assesses whether cocoaching can or cannot work
Too many coaches at once leaves players confused
compromise on either side with most decisions we take. Because although you may both agree on the outcome you want, the application of achieving that outcome will differ most time,” Davids explained to idiski Times recently.
Marumo Gallants coach Dan Malesela certainly agrees with Davids. Malesela, who was a cocoach with Khabo Zondo and Abram Nteo at Royal AM, also didn’t beat about the bush when asked why he resigned at Royal AM to return to Gallants.
“I asked myself if I regard myself as a brand, as Dan Malesela, how is my brand going to be affected when I’m among a group and whether I’m growing that brand,” he reasoned.
Former Sundowns defender Ricardo Nascimento, who is now at Royal AM, has also been quoted saying: “For me you need one leader. Too many coaches at once, one talks this, one talks that... , leaves players confused.”
The situation is, of course, different beyond the SA borders. In Europe, coaches are known as managers and they have wide-ranging responsibilities, including transfers and negotiating player contracts.
It remains to be seen whether co-coaching in SA will stand the test of time or follow the European way.