POLL | Is Andile Mpisane really a work in progress?

08 September 2022 - 13:00
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Andile Mpisane was on the bench for Royal AM on Tuesday.
Andile Mpisane was on the bench for Royal AM on Tuesday.
Image: Gallo Images/Oupa Bopape

Royal AM chairperson and musician Andile Mpisane's football career is a subject of huge debate after the club's co-coach, Khabo Zondo, called him a work in progress.

The son of businesswoman and club owner Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize, was named on the bench for Tuesday's match against Richards Bay FC at Chatsworth Stadium.

Zondo said injuries forced him to include Mpisane, despite him not being fully fit. 

“Well, it’s a work in progress and we must give him a chance to get to the level where we are.

“He’s part of our team and he’s been taking his training seriously, and this [putting Mpisane on the bench] is another way of encouraging him to do more.”

When asked what fans can expect from a fit Mpisane, Zondo said: “Let’s see when he gets the opportunity and then you make your own judgment.”

Football fans weighed in on the co-coach’s comments, with some saying Mpisane would light up the league and others saying  Zondo was singing for his supper.

Football writer Sazi Hadebe wrote about club owners undermining their coaches and said the danger of putting Mpisane on the field to compete against professional players was “too ghastly to contemplate”.

“Can you imagine who’ll shoulder the blame if a major medical situation were to happen to Mpisane? The three musketeers on the bench, of course.”

Had he been on the pitch, Mpisane would have made his PSL debut, having previously played for the team in the lower divisions and featuring in other exhibition matches.

In 2020, aged 19, he became the youngest chair in the Premier Soccer League .

In March, Mkhize explained his role at the club.

She said he was tasked with running Royal’s DStv Diski Challenge team. His duties involved signing reserve team players as part of mentoring him for a bigger role in the senior team.

“Andile knows his football. Andile can analyse a game from the beginning to the end. As we speak now, he’s got a full role in Diski. He is getting valuable information from the people who have been in the game for a long time, such as Sinky Mnisi, Richard Makhoba and John Maduka,” said Mkhize.


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