Dan Malesela has broken his silence over long-time speculation linking him with the head coaching position at Kaizer Chiefs.
Several tacticians have been tipped to take over the hot seat at Naturena. This comes after the departure of Molefi Ntseki as Chiefs’ head coach in October after a series of poor results.
The coaches linked with Amakhosi include Baroka FC coach Malesela. Pitso Mosimane, who parted ways with UAE Pro League side Al Wahda in October, has also been linked with the job.
However, Chiefs have appointed Cavin Johnson as caretaker coach for the remainder of the 2023/24 season. The club continues its search for a tactician to lead them back to glory.
And with pressure mounting and fans yearning for silverware, the Soweto giants have found themselves at a crossroads. Pundits such as former Chiefs star Junior Khanye have echoed the supporters’ sentiments, urging the club to consider coaches like Malesela to end the eight-year trophy drought.
Malesela’s popular entertaining brand of football strikes a chord deep within the Amakhosi faithful. Many believe his philosophy perfectly aligns with Chiefs’ tradition of exciting, attacking play.
The 58-year-old mentor beat Chiefs with his slick type of football in the 2019 Nedbank Cup final as TS Galaxy head coach.
In an interview on Metro FM, Malesela was asked if he would be interested in coaching Chiefs.
Dan Malesela breaks his silence on Chiefs’ job
“I’ve heard that a lot [fans and pundits saying Chiefs needs the enterprising type of football that Dan Malesela plays],” he said.
“Even one time I went to a Chiefs game, before the match, everybody was saying: ‘Hey coach, we heard the news that you are coming to Chiefs and then Chiefs won 3-0’ and they didn’t say anything afterwards.”
When the former Marumo Gallants and Chippa United coach was probed on whether he would be a good fit at Chiefs, he said: “I don’t want to disrespect my club [Baroka].
“But any team that is good and that has resources like Kaizer Chiefs, everybody would want to coach there. I don’t want to disrespect my club, I have a contract with them.”
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