Zwane calls for local coach at Chiefs

Stand-in Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane strongly advocates for the club to appoint a local mentor as Stuart Baxter™s permanent replacement.

Zwane himself is in the running for the job and is on the record saying he is ready to take over, but in the event that the hierarchy goes in a different direction then the best candidate should be home-grown.

The former Amakhosi winger argues the next coach needs a clear understanding of the players™ individual backgrounds: "We have to empower our own people, we have to groom our own coaches ¦ummh team like Kaizer Chiefs you know, Pirates as you can see there is coach Fadlu (Davids) there, there is coach Mandla (Ncikazi) there you know - just a little bit of patience things will change for the better.

"We have good coaches that can come and help Kaizer Chiefs why not? you know local coaches I think they can, because they understand where these players come from. We dealing with sensitive issues here in this country and a lot of people they take those things for granted they don™t know where these boys come from œZwane explained

Coach Arthur Zwane mentioned that there are so many things happening behind the scenes: œLet™s know where we come from, before we can think about competing with the rest of the world let™s know who we are¦?: @superjourno #SABCSportFootball #WeLoveItHere pic.twitter.com/Ijkfutu3Jz— SABC Sport (@SPORTATSABC) May 8, 2022

Zwane, who began his coaching career at Chiefs in 2016 in the development structure, and he indicated that he knows all about the challenges most of the players at the club face daily.

Chiefs are now looking for their sixth coach in seven years, and in that period, they™ve had Steve Komphela, Giovanni Solinas, Ernst Middendorp, Gavin Hunt and Baxter.

Zwane says he is not entirely opposed to a European coach as long as the fundamentals of a club from Soweto are not adjusted to suit a foreign mentor.

"If you don™t have that have background and that experience you will take that for granted you will always say that boy is a problem, so that™s why it™s key: we need to understand. I don™t have a problem if we get someone from Europe who will come here but and adapt not to come and change the way we want to do things œsaid Zwane

In a subtle way, Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi backed Zwane for the Chiefs job instead of another candidate.

Mngqithi was speaking to the media following Downs™ 1-1 draw with Amakhosi at FNB Stadium in the DStv Premiership.

"I think coaches like Arthur and Dillon (Sheppard), (Vincent) Kobola at Baroka, If you look at the change they have made at very short space of time it requires that our South African media must also try a little bit not be pessimistic towards our people and I think they deserve an opportunity and our support from you guys and the media" Mngqithi urged.

By Mazola Molefe