FOUR WANDERERS PLAYERS PLEAD WITH NDLAZI TO STAY

MBABANE – South African coach, Kenny Ndlazi has turned down his former team Manzini Wanderers players’ last ditch attempt to have him remain with the team.

The outspoken and well travelled coach was approached by four of the team’s senior players, shortly before leaving the country. He parted ways with the maroon and white outfit almost two weeks ago and has since been replaced by the team’s former midfielder, Mphumelelo ‘Flamingo’ Gamedze, who had earlier been tipped for the assistant coach position. He confirmed the players’ move and said it pained him to note that only the players seemed to appreciate his input.

“After sacrificing a lot for the team, I think I deserved better. It was a painful decision for me to turn down the players, with whom I had forged a very good relationship. Our bond with the players was strong and to a large extent, I can say I was not surprised by their move to ask me to stay. In as much as I wanted to stay, I could not without being approached by the team’s officials.

“I also told the players that at Wanderers I could only stay as a coach and nothing else. I was eager to finish the job we started with the players. We were so close to achieving our dream and this unfortunately had to happen,” he said.
Although Ndlazi revealed the names of the team’s four senior players, their names will not be published to protect them from the team.

One of them, when reached for a comment, said he saw nothing wrong with what they did but were only acting on the best interest of the team. “Everyone can tell that parting ways with the coach at this stage of the season will not do the team any good. We wanted to find out from the coach if what was forcing him out could be stopped or not. We just felt that as players, we needed him to finish what he started,” said one of the players.

Another one said Ndlazi had forged a healthy working relationship with the players; hence it was not an easy decision to let him go.
“He was a unifier even among the players. No one did as he pleased when he was here and we will miss him. In as much as we understand that football is just like this, we were hopeful that he would finish the season with us,” he said. 

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: