AmaZulu FC head coach Arthur Zwane has offered an assessment of his first season leading the KZN-based club.
Zwane’s journey with Usuthu began in October last year when he arrived as a co-coach with Vusumuzi Vilakazi, stepping into the shoes of the departed Pablo Franco Martin.
A few months later, in February of this year, Vilakazi’s resignation due to personal issues elevated Zwane to the sole head coach position.
He guided Usuthu to a sixth-place finish in the Betway Premiership, securing them a spot in the MTN8 of the 2025/26 season. Subsequently, Zwane was given a contract extension by the Durban-based club.
‘10111’, as he’s affectionately known, stated that his first campaign with AmaZulu wasn’t “easy”. He explained that he and the departed Vilakazi first had to focus on laying a solid foundation for the team before even beginning to implement their desired style of play.
Zwane believes this contributed to the inconsistent results experienced at times, but he remains confident that AmaZulu have a bright future ahead.
ZWANE – ‘RESULTS WERE, AT TIMES, INCONSISTENT’
“It hasn’t been easy, sometimes the gift works, people can take that for granted and also how much you’re supported when things are difficult,” said Zwane as translated from Zulu language.
“If we would have come here with coach Kanu and not have a long-term goal, we would be just taking chances. What we wanted is to put the club in a better position.
“We had to make a foundation first that we would build the team on. That’s why the results were, at times, inconsistent because we had to fix some of the things first.
“So, I think the club’s management gave us an enough chance to work on that, even though it was difficult. But the players started slowly to get used to us because as coaches we don’t work the same way and we don’t do things the same way.
“And sometimes, it becomes even more darker before the light. So, we thank the president [Sandile Zungu] and everyone who’s the part of this club to be patient with us because it hasn’t been easy.
“We want the players and the fans to believe that we can do a lot with this club. They say ‘Rome was not built on one day’. So we had to make a solid foundation first and avoid taking shortcuts because we were going to fall at some point.”
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