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The 41-year-old has revealed how he ended up signing for Mamelodi Sundowns instead of Amakhosi during his playing days.
Kaizer Chiefs’ new assistant coach Dillon Sheppard has revealed that he wanted to join the Soweto giants upon their return from Europe in 2006.
According to Sheppard, the Soweto giants had no place for him at the time and that was when Mamelodi Sundowns offered him a contract to be part of Gordon Igesund’s league-winning team.
However, he is glad that he has finally had the opportunity to work for Amakhosi, albeit in a different role than he initially expected.
“In 2006, when I came back from Europe, I wanted to sign for Kaizer Chiefs. Unfortunately, at that time, they didn’t have a place for me, so I went to join another club (Sundowns),” Sheppard said in SA FM.
“But I’m here now, it’s a great opportunity for me as a coach,” he said.
Sheppard intends to learn as much as possible and grow as a coach, but admits there is a lot of work to do given the challenges Amakhosi currently faces.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be here. It is an opportunity to learn and grow and we know the challenges; a great club like Chiefs deserves and wants to win trophies and hopefully we can contribute to that,” Sheppard continued.
“I am very happy to be a part of this great institution and I am grateful to the president for making it possible. There is a lot of work to do now and we must lower our heads and do the hard work.” “revealed the former Bafana Bafana midfielder.
The 41-year-old mentor also spoke about his relationship with first team coach Gavin Hunt, dating back to the late 1990s when he first burst onto the professional scene.
Hunt handed Sheppard his professional debut on Seven Stars and again signed him to Bidvest Wits when he was in the twilight of his career seven years ago.
Additionally, it was Hunt who brought Sheppard on as one of his assistants at Wits before encouraging him to work with the club’s under-17 team.
When Wits sold his PSL status, Sheppard was his MDC head coach, the role he will continue to fill at Chiefs alongside Arthur Zwane while working closely with Hunt on the first team for the next three seasons.
“Gavin Hunt gave me my Seven Stars debut in 1998. He also took me to Wits when I was 36 and we won the league and MTN8. He also gave me the opportunity to join as an assistant and we won the Telkom Knockout Cup. He recommended that I take on a coaching job for under 17s, “added Sheppard.
