Dan has found niche in NFD proving ground
It is a good thing that Dan Malesela has gone back to coach in the National First Division – he is best suited to this league and him being there is good for our football.
He was earlier this week confirmed as coach of newly-formed TS Galaxy after the club axed Vusi Mkhatshwa.
By saying Bra Dan is best suited to this lower league I am not in any way demeaning him or his capabilities as a coach. I say this because of the good job he did at Cape Town All Stars who have since sold their NFD status and have been renamed TS Galaxy.
That club has produced so many players who have since gone on to make a name for themselves and some are now knocking on the Bafana door. I can list the likes of Thembinkosi Lorch, Xola Mlambo, Jabulani Shongwe, and Nathan Gertse to name a few.
He produced many good players and his involvement with Galaxy will definitely ensure he gets to do it again. We need strong and capable coaches in the NFD as well.
I know the main aim of teams in that division is to win promotion and get out of the poverty that the division comes with but it is good if some good players are produced in the process.
The slow trickle of players from the NFD to the Premiership
Sibongiseni Gumbi
over the past few years has been worrying. It was good to see Cosmos produce a few who became regulars at Premiership teams last season, such as the likes of Mxolisi Macuphu and Linda Mntambo.
Like any man, Malesela is also fallible. From what I have gathered from people who have worked with him previously, he is arrogant about what he believes in and would rather fall on his sword than have his beliefs changed. This can be both a good and bad principle for a man.
It is good in the manner that he knows what he wants from his players and will never compromise, which is why he has been able to produce players who possess the skills that make watching football so good. But it is bad in that as a coach he has to accommodate the other type of players as well and not always relying on the same style of play which was his disadvantage at Chippa.
Players who have come through the NFD have previously showed to have some hunger which makes them work harder. I can list them but I would run out of space. But think of Shabba, Letsholonyane and most recently Percy Tau who all came through development structures but started their careers in the NFD.
With a coach like Dan to guide them, expect Galaxy to be raided at the end of the season by topflight teams.
And before I forget and are accused of being unpatriotic, let me wish Bafana Bafana well for their second Afcon qualifier where they host Libya in Durban – re kaofela, Sisonke, we are in this together. But that is until you mess up again and we give you the stick you often deserve.