Newly appointed Marumo Gallants head coach Dylan Kerr has explained why he felt disrespected by the players during his previous stint with the club.
Following the successful purchase of the DStv Premiership status of Moroka Swallows status, Gallants roped in Kerr as their head coach ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The Limpopo-based side participated in the Motsepe Foundation Championship last season but failed to gain automatic promotion to the SA top-flight.
Gallants finished 11th on the log standings after winning nine matches in the league, drawing nine, and losing 12 times in 30 games. Bahlabane Ba Ntwa spent only one season in the second-tier after being relegated at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Interestingly, Dylan Kerr was in charge of the Gallants team that was relegated despite making it to the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals. The 57-year-old mentor has been without a club since parting ways with Gallants over 12 months ago.
WHAT DID DYLAN KERR SAY ABOUT MARUMO GALLANTS PLAYERS?
With the Abram Sello-owned team aiming to stamp their authority in the Premiership, Kerr says the players let down the president after boycotting training towards the end of the 2022/23 season.
This was after the players and club management could not find a middle ground with the bonuses after a good run in the Confederation Cup.
“I left South Africa for personal reasons and professional reasons. The professional reasons were what happened in the last two games with Gallants; I felt disrespected; I felt the payers let down the chairman and me,” Kerr said.
“Purely because of the way they acted, and we know what that was all about. It was about the money and that should never come to play in any football match. I didn’t agree with it; I didn’t like it.
“And I went back [home] because I thought it was time to give England or the UK an opportunity and see if anything can happen because I was spoken highly about in the football circle.
“In the 12 months in England, I had three interviews, two academies and one ladies [team], but the dynamics of football have changed.
“As a 57-year-old, I’m looked at as a dinosaur because there are a lot of youngsters; it’s all about analysis, presentation, and it’s very difficult to get into that [coaching] role.
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