Bafana Bafana head performance analyst Sinesipho Mali has revealed one of his biggest scouting lessons from his time as a scout at Kaizer Chiefs.
Mali, alongside the club’s head of recruitment, Tera Maliwa, is hosting SM Sports Consulting’s second edition of the Performance Analysis and Technical Scouting Symposium Masterclass.
The event, taking place at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Johannesburg, got underway on Tuesday, 21 April and concludes on Wednesday. Speaking during a panel discussion, Mali pointed to the case of Lazarous Kambole as a defining learning curve in talent evaluation.
The Zambian forward still holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in the CAF Champions League. In 2018, while playing for Zesco United, he scored three goals in just five minutes against Mbabane Swallows, before finishing among the competition’s top scorers with five goals.
A move to Amakhosi followed, but things did not go as expected. Kambole managed just two goals in 33 appearances over his spell at the club.
WHAT LAZAROUS KAMBOLE’S STRUGGLES TAUGHT MALI
Mali revealed that they had scouted Kambole following his impressive season at Zesco. But he points out that adaptation was always going to be a challenge.
“He went to Zambia and didn’t he start banging goals again? It was the culture. The reality is that, as a club, we didn’t create circumstances for him to adapt to the country. His personality made it very difficult for him to adapt to certain dynamics of the country,” Mali told delegates.
Speakers at the summit included national Under-20 coach Raymond Mdaka, SAFA technical director Molefi Ntseki, Mamelodi Sundowns analyst Tinashe Mukandatsama and FIFA High Performance expert Faisal Chibshah.
Mali’s advice to top clubs regarding recruitment stemming from the Kambole blunder was to create an environment where adaptation becomes easy.
“You’re willing to make a R10 million transfer as the biggest investment, but you don’t want to service it. It’s like being willing to buy a Ferrari for everyday use as your daily car, yet not wanting to service it.”
“Have circumstances, systems, and top people around your investment. The best sports scientists, the best analysts, so that you can make sure that the investment is well protected. Adaptation requires a high level of investment from clubs …”
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