After another impressive result against Baroka it's time to say it: Fadlu Davids looks a PSL coach

Fadlu Davids has the look of a Premier Soccer League coach‚ even if he does not quite see things that way himself just yet.

Maritzburg United’s reluctant interim coach's results have been impressive‚ with another Absa Premiership win against Baroka FC on Friday night‚ 3-1 at Harry Gwala Stadium‚ strengthening the KZN side’s case for just their second-ever top eight finish.

This from a coach who has taken the top seat on the bench reluctantly at the PSL’s perennial thorn-in-the-side club.

Davids was offered the head coaching position after Ernst Middendorp resigned in late November‚ but declined‚ saying he felts he has experience to gain.

In an interim period before Roger De Sa was appointed‚ Davids produced fairly spectacularly‚ winning two and drawing five of seven games‚ without a loss.

De Sa took over and lost five from six‚ then quit for family reasons.

Davids has come back and won two and lost one – against Orlando Pirates with nine men in Johannesburg on Tuesday night – for an overall record of two defeats from 10 games.

After the Bucs game – despite the Joburg press fairly gushing over him – United’s very young‚ 35-year-old coach‚ remained cagey on taking the reigns full time.

“Exactly like we’re not putting targets on the top eight‚ I don’t want to put a target on myself or anything else‚” he said.

“I did say earlier in the season when I did had those five of six games after Ernst left that my main focus is on‚ having completed my Uefa B license‚ getting my Uefa A.

“So I don’t want to put myself in‚ or answer questions about interim coaching or whatever.

“I’m focused on the next game and the seven games remaining‚ and that’s what I’ll do.”

If that seems a somewhat serious answer‚ it’s because Davids is a serious guy. One can feel quite privileged when the former Silver Stars striker cracks one of his slight‚ but warm‚ grins in one’s presence.

Davids was the stalwart striker whose goals as the 2007-08 National First Division’s top scorer saw United promoted straight back to the PSL after a disastrous relegation the previous season.

The devout family man‚ originally from Cape Town‚ has settled and found a home in peaceful KZN capital Pietermaritzburg‚ and a place to educate himself as a coach.

Apart from being on the verge of the second-highest coaching qualification‚ his Uefa A licence‚ he is among a group of young coaches – including notable fitness trainers Kabelo “KB” Rangoaga of Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana and SuperSport United’s Joshua Smith – educating themselves on top-class conditioning training.

“We attended those courses in Barcelona. We had that expert meeting in Clarence where Raymond Verheijen came in‚” Davids said.

“It’s just about the periodisation and getting players really to a high fitness level‚ but in terms of your playing style. Not just running. Not just running all over the pitch in terms of really putting tactical elements in.

“If you want to play a high-pressing system‚ if you want to play a counterattack or if you want to play positional play in terms of your attack.

“That’s just the whole holistic approach of getting the whole team being able to do those many actions per minute and maintaining it for 90 minutes – that is what we want to achieve.”

Dutch coach Verheijen‚ the former assistant to late Wales national coach Gary Speed and author of “The Original Guide to Football Periodisation”‚ is one of the world’s leading experts of football conditioning. - TMG Digital/TMG Sport