‘I don’t want trophyless stability’, says AmaZulu boss Sandile Zungu

AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu says he is not concerned about being perceived as being among the notorious group of club bosses known for being impatient and trigger-happy in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

Since assuming ownership of Usuthu two years ago, Zungu has changed coaches four times and has been questioned for some decisions he made regarding the men at the helm of his team.

When Zungu bought the club, inexperienced Ayanda Dlamini was head coach. The president quickly replaced Dlamini with Benni McCarthy, who enjoyed success, leading Usuthu to a second-place finish in the DStv Premiership for the first time in their history in 2020-21.

In 2021-22, McCarthy led the team to the Caf Champions League group stages in their maiden appearance in the continental club showpiece before he was shown the exit door because results were not forthcoming domestically.

Usuthu this month parted ways with Brandon Truter, who replaced McCarthy, and helped the club to the top and MTN8 semifinals. Truter has been replaced by 32-year-old French-Moroccan Romain Folz, who did not win in five games before resigning from Marumo Gallants earlier this season.

Dlamini is now the assistant to Folz.

“I’m not bothered by how people perceive me,” Zungu told TimesLIVE.

“I think I know what I am doing and I know that when the results show even those who are critics will say, ‘Actually we understood what you are doing’, so I’m quite satisfied with that.

“If you look at Ayanda Dlamini's first stint, someone we found at AmaZulu, when he had a bad run of form at the start of the 2020-2021 season, after six or seven games in charge he had six points, so we asked him to step down.

“Then we got Benni McCarthy and he had a splendid season. Maybe if he had started on day one [of the season] we could have won the league.

“In his second season, in my opinion things fell apart so much that we ran in the risk of not being in the top eight, let alone in the top four, and that was our target. I had to move in very fast to rescue our campaign.”

The ambitious president said it was impossible to continue with Truter following the coach's return of one point from five league games, despite Truter having had a good start at Usuthu.

“To have five games in a row with only one point to show for it, I don’t care what anyone says in terms of our ambitions as AmaZulu, that is unacceptable,” Zungu said.

“I’m not in the habit of trying to please anybody with my actions or inaction. All I know is we gave Brandon ample support, we bought the players and we have assembled a squad envied by everybody. This is a squad that can beat anybody on any day.”

The businessman said while he wants coaching stability at the club, he won’t tolerate "trophyless instability".

“Within the next three seasons AmaZulu should win the league.

“The coaching stability is important, but when there’s no stability it’s because we haven’t had a coach that will take us where we want to go. So we actually change jockeys.

“The fact that you are with the team for the longest time doesn’t mean you will become an automatic success. There are many teams who have had the same coach for many years and have achieved nothing.

“There’s stability, but it is a trophyless stability. I don’t want trophyless stability, I want stability but also I want trophies.

“I want a trophy this season. I know it’s not a given [that AmaZulu will get a trophy], but we have to play and win games and we will win the trophy. I want to finish this season in either position one, two or three so t I can represent SA in the Caf Champions League or Confederation Cup.

“When I see that objective in danger, I act on the spot. I think that is basically what we have done.”

Folz’s first assignment as Usuthu coach will be the Premiership match against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Friday night (7.30pm).

Pirates are the only team able to beat Folz during his brief stint with Gallants, where his other four games were draws.