Siyanda Zwane praises Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi

Zwane played under Mngqithi at Golden Arrows before reuniting with him at Mamelodi Sundowns.

Arrows have one of the youngest squads in the Betway Premiership and also made headlines after signing 15 year old Mlondi Mtshali.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Zwane says Mngqithi is one of the coaches that believed in him when people thought he was not yet ready to take on the field.

"The role that he plays in being a father figure helps him a lot. He is a coach that believes in player development, he's a coach that can work on your mind, he knows how to get into your head,” Zwane said.

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“He can make you believe that you are a top player and I think whatever that he was trying to sell to these young boys, they managed to buy into how he wanted them to play. 

“If you watch Golden Arrows you can see that it is a well coached team, well drilled team. Coach Manqoba for me in my eyes will always be the best coach because everything in my career I would say that it started with him. 

“He believed in me when everyone was saying I'm not ready to play, the same thing that he's doing to these young boys. I'm sure even other people felt that these young boys are still very young but he believed in these young boys and they didn't disappoint him."

The Durban side were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Carling Knockout after losing to Marumo Gallants on penalties and were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup.

They are currently sixth on the Betway Premiership log table with one last game remaining against TS Galaxy.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns defender says he advises players to learn from him.

"I was telling one of the players that they should try and squeeze as much knowledge as possible from coach Manqoba and try to be a student of the game and be coachable,” he added.

“They will go all the way and even play overseas. He gives his best, I really admire him as a person, I admire him as a coach and I believe that he has done very, very well with this young Golden Arrows team."