Extra Time: Menzi Magubane reflects upon the growing trend of South African football clubs appointing homegrown talents to coach their teams.
As Sharon Dee’s song goes, “Local is Lekker” and three big South African clubs have decided to follow that song as they put trust in local coaches.
Next season will be the first in a long time that we see Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs as well as Orlando Pirates with local coaches.
And there are other clubs that will have local coaches for next season as well, something that is rare in South African football. Foreign coaches used to dominate SA football, especially in the top league.
Sundowns have been using locals in the past 10 years and they have been dominating the DStv Premiership.
They started with Pitso Mosimane in 2012 and won five league titles, two Nedbank Cups, two Telkom Cups, one CAF Champions League and one CAF Super Cup.
His successors in 2021 Manqoba Mngqithi, Rulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela have so far won the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup league titles. In fact they were the first coaches to win the treble for Sundowns last season.
Chiefs have also decided to go local after the departure of Stuart Baxter late last season.
They have officially appointed Arthur Zwane as head coach after he was the caretaker coach together with Dillon Sheppard.
Zwane is the third ever local coach that Amakhosi has had since the formation of the Premier Soccer League in 1996. Komphela was the first followed by Gavin Hunt.
Pirates have followed suit as they just appointed Mandla Ncikazi as their head coach after being the caretaker almost the whole of last season together with Fadlu Davids, who has since left.
Can the new boys in Soweto keep up with Sundowns next season?
Only time will tell. Let’s just hope that the management and supporters will be patient with them just like Sundowns did with Mosimane at first.
Other clubs that have locals as head coaches are AmaZulu (Brandon Truter), Royal AM (Owen Da Gama), Stellenbosch (Steve Baker) and Cape Town City (Eric Tinkler).
Image source: @KaizerChiefs
