Larsen takes Chippa reins
CHIPPA United have parted ways with 12 players and they are set to sign six more.
The Chilli Boys new coach, Clinton Larsen, confirmed that the club is making a lot of changes in the playing personnel.
Larsen took over the coaching reins at the club last week from Joel Masutha, who was shown the door after just five games in charge.
“The club got rid of 12 players before I came in. Some of these players I know and some of them are not prominent players. Players like Jabulani Shongwe, Nkosinathi Mthiyane, Thabo Nthethe, Buyani Sali and Miguel Timm have left the club. We are bringing six new players. Most of them will be arriving tonight (yesterday). Some of them are players that I’ve worked with before,” Larsen said.
The Chilli Boys are in the relegation zone and Larsen is confident of lifting the club from second-bottom of the table.
Chippa has had a lot of coaches this season – they started with Dan Malesela at the helm, but he was fired after three games, and replaced by Eric Tinkler who also didn’t last as he was shown the door in December, to be replaced by Masutha.
“It is not about what happened to other coaches. I won’t pay too much attention to that. What I know is that there’s quality in this club. That’s why it was easy for me to join. I believe in my coaching methods and I believe in my coaching style. The main goal is to take this team out of the bottom three. This is a very exciting project. I know some of the players here. I’ve worked with them before. I’ve worked with the likes of Mark Mayambela, Ruzaigh Gamieldien and Kurt Lentjies before at Bloemfontein Celtic,” Larsen added.
Chippa currently have just 12 points after 17 games.
“I’ve proven before during my stints with Lamontville Golden Arrows and Bloemfontein Celtic that I do bring stability. I hope to bring that stability to Chippa United. I want to keep the team in the league and keep my footprint at the club,” Larsen explained.
Chippa will tackles Maritzburg United at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Saturday at 3.30pm.
“I started working on Saturday. I have seven days to prepare for our first game. It is better than nothing,” Larsen stated.
Mbuyiselo Sambu will assist Larsen at Chippa after the club also sacked Tshepo Motsoeneng who was helping Masutha.
“I coached him at Celtic. He has been with Chippa United MultiChoice Diski Challenge team. So, there’s won’t be a lot of changes in the technical team.” Larsen concluded.