Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed a Bafana Bes’thende star he wanted to sign while still at Mamelodi Sundowns.
Mngqithi had been with Sundowns since 2014, where he held roles as assistant coach, head coach, and senior coach. He was dismissed in December last year, and Miguel Cardoso replaced him.
Looking back at his time with the Tshwane giants, Mngqithi has stated that Knox Mutizwa was once second on his list of desired striker acquisitions.
He said this after Mutizwa scored the winning goal in Arrows’ 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership last Saturday in Soweto at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
MNGQITHI – ‘I’VE ALWAYS BEEN FOND OF MUTIZWA’
“He’s another boy [Mutizwa] that I’ve always been fond of,” said Mngqithi. “And if I can tell you the secret, there is a striker that I signed, if I could not sign that striker in another team [Mamelodi Sundowns], I would have signed Knox because he was number two in the list of strikers that I thought could cause problems [for opponents].”
Mngqithi, however, was still critical of the Zimbabwean forward, citing a lack of consistent confidence and a tendency to make unnecessary errors at times.
“But I also don’t think he believes in himself as much as I do because sometimes he commits elementary mistakes that are not for his level,” Mngqithi continued.
“He can commit an elementary mistake now and give you a world-class situation immediately after that. And that for me is what…I was even talking to the coaches now that we have won the game, but I’m still having this element of unhappiness within me because I just feel we were too wasteful.
“I just feel we sometimes take decisions that you just don’t understand where they’re coming from, and Knox, in my opinion, is a better striker than many so-called big strikers.”
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