Maritzburg United move closer to appointing caretaker coach Davids on a permanent basis

Maritzburg United are “moving in the direction” of trying to persuade their impressive young caretaker-coach Fadlu Davids to take on the position full time next season.

United chairman Farook Kadodia said the club are in talks with Davids‚ and want the 35-year-old to express his feelings on the matter before making an announcement.

“In inverted commas‚ there will be an opportune time for us to make an announcement. But we are heading in the direction that we want Fadlu to stay and enter into a new contract‚” Kadodia said on Wednesday.

“We term Fadlu as a resident employee of the club‚ and we’d like to help him and guide him in his future.

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“He’s obviously a young coach and you’ve got to manage him well and make sure he doesn’t get burnt out in the short term.

“We’ve obviously been talking very closely. When we appointed Roger (de Sa) we also had those discussions.

“And I think the reality is that those apprenticeships (with De Sa and Ernst Middendorp) added value to Fadlu’s life.

“And we see it at this moment as one of our future plans‚ firstly for Fadlu to add value and strengthen the team‚ and at the same time build his coaching profile.

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“It’s in the process. We’ve obviously got to allow him to express where and how he sees himself.

“And I think at the moment we are on the same page. We firmly believe that there’s a process for him to grow his profile and we are right there to support him.

“It’s to his benefit and our benefit.”

Davids‚ in two stints this season following the departures of Middendorp in May‚ then De Sa in March (after two-and-a-half months in charge) has outperformed both those coaches in results.

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Under Davids‚ Maritzburg have won six of 12 games‚ drawing four and losing two.

Under Middendorp United won two of 11‚ drawing five and losing four. De Sa won one game in six‚ and lost the rest.

Davids‚ though‚ has expressed his reticence to take the job full time at such a young age‚ saying he wants to complete his Uefa A license first‚ which will take two more years.

The former striker’s goals as the National First Division’s top scorer in 2007-08 saw Maritzburg promoted back to the PSL.

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He cut his teeth in coaching as Middendorp’s assistant at United and Bloemfontein Celtic.

“He’s a fixture with the club. He played with the team and helped us get promoted‚” Kadodia said.

“And when an injury came in (at the end of Davids’s career) I offered to help him in coaching‚ to work with Ernst closely‚ with Ernst guiding him.

“Ernst was very receptive to it‚ and that’s when we got the ball rolling.”

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Kadodia said the existence of the MultiChoice Diski Challenge reserve league – formed in 2014 – has served as an important tool for United to develop coaches.

Davids coached there‚ and currently his brother‚ Mahir‚ is being groomed in the reserve league‚ while Peter Petersen‚ a former United right-back stalwart‚ is coaching the club’s colts team.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport