What was a great start for Benni McCarthy in his first game as AmaZulu coach may have dire consequences for his Chippa United counterpart Lehlohonolo Seema.
With AmaZulu beating United 3-1 on Sunday‚ the result places pressure on Seema‚ whose boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi is known to be trigger happy with coaches.
An unexpected patience has been shown to Seema‚ with United having won only one game‚ drawn two and lost five of their eight league matches.
Seema though said he still has the support of the chairman‚ the management and the players despite Mpengesi’s known haste when it comes to hiring and firing coaches.
“I still have the support of the players and the management‚ so we’re still soldiering on," said the 40-year-old coach..
"We can’t despair now. We’re going to focus more and work harder.
"We’re not going anywhere during the holidays. We’re going to work harder to achieve what we need to achieve‚” Seema said.
“The chairman has been supportive and will continue to be supportive because he can see how the team is shaping up.
"We have to get points and we must not lose points. There are more positives than negatives and the structure we now have gives us some positives.”
United’s sole win came against winless bottom dwellers Maritzburg United and with TS Galaxy having already shown their coach Dan Malesela the door‚ all bets are off with regards to Seema keeping his job with the Eastern Cape club.
That said‚ the two bottom clubs in Black Leopards and Maritzburg have already sacked the coaches they started the season with.
Chippa United haven’t won a game in five‚ a situation that could have relegation implications for any club.
Seema‚ whose team has played some good football without the necessary results‚ said AmaZulu’s players raised their game to impress their new coach.
Seema said his team could be better‚ especially in the second half where they played much better despite the adverse result.
“You could see the AmaZulu players wanted to show the new coach their hunger.
"They were hungrier than us and they were determined. They all wanted to show the coach what they were capable of.
"We were second in everything and we couldn’t match them‚ especially in the second half‚” Seema said.
“The change of structure in the second half meant the team played much better.
"Had we not fluffed that chance that would have made the score to be 2-2‚ it would have been a different ball game. That second half performance is something that we can build on.”
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