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AmaZulu’s new owner, Sandile Zungu, has denied Benni McCarthy’s club ties as a coach as rumors, but subtly sent a message to his current coaching staff that an ambitious new regime at Usuthu awaits results.
Announcing the signings of South Africa’s under-23 international striker Phakamani Mahlambi on Tuesday on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns and goalkeeper Veli Mothwa on a permanent contract with Chippa United, Zungu was asked about a report in a weekly soccer publication linking former Cape Town coach McCarthy to Usuthu.
He made it clear that current coach Ayanda Dlamini and assistant Allan Freeze have the club’s full support, but added that the club’s new owners, who bought the franchise from Patrick Sokhela in the offseason, expect results. Zungu added that those results take the form of a mandate for his coaching staff to finish in the top four in the 2020-21 DStv Premier League.
“I have heard five coaches be associated with AmaZulu; it’s the first time I’ve heard from Benni McCarthy, by the way, ”the AmaZulu president said at the Zungu Investment Company headquarters in Bryanston, Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“And in football everyone knows that you have to have tough skin, you cannot treat rumors with disdain. It is not personal.
“All I can tell you is that the technical team, not just the head coach, but the assistant, the goalkeeping coach and the medical staff, enjoy our support.
“We inherited them from the previous administration. And we made it very clear when we got on board that everyone must prove themselves.
“No one is viewed with suspicion simply because we obtained them from the previous administration. One thing we are very clear about is that we have ambition, and in our pursuit of ambition no prisoners will be taken.
“If you get in the way, you are a player and you are not acting, there is no room for you. If you are a manager and you are not up to the challenge, there is no room for you.
“If you are a member of the technical team and the results are not visible, you are expendable.
“I’m not bigger than Usuthu, either. Usuthu is a great brand. Me and my brother [Manzini Zungu]“I just have a responsibility to manage this great brand and lead it to greatness.
“… The team belongs to the fans‚ and we should only bring happiness to the fans. And if I get in the way of progress, I will simply step up and someone else will become president of Usuthu.
“If a coach gets in the way of the happiness of the fans, he has been patient since 1992 [AmaZulu’s last trophy in the Coca-Cola Cup]‚You will have to do the right thing.
“… But right now everyone is enjoying our support, it’s unequivocal.”
When asked if his coaching staff has a term of office for the season, Zungu replied: “We want a position in the top four at the end of the season, through thick and thin.”
AmaZulu, with strong signatures that also included Siphiwe Tshabalala, Xola Mlambo, Limbikani Mzava and Makhehleni Makhaula, started with one win, two draws and two losses in the 2020-21 Premiership.
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