Pitso Dladla, the man in charge of coaching reins at Durban City.
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The chairman of Durban City, Farook Kadodia, the board of directors and the management know what they are doing at the club. The fact that they seem to be releasing technical team personnel willy-nilly is neither here nor there.
Both on and off the pitch, City have hogged the headlines since their promotion back to the top-flight this season.
They have fitted like a glove back into the elite league, currently sitting fourth in the Betway Premiership standings with 32 points after 20 games. They are also in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final, where they will face Golden Arrows at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday night (6pm).
Their on-the-pitch performances have come amid an insatiable reshuffle in the technical team. They started the season with veteran tacticians Gavin Hunt and Ernst Middendorp as the senior team head coach and technical director respectively.
Hunt allegedly did not see eye-to-eye with Middendorp and the board, resulting in him being relieved of his duties. Middendorp would soon follow suit, leaving the club.
But in a plot twist, Middendorp returned to the Citizens late last year, with Sinethemba Badela joining as Hunt’s successor. Before he could unpack his bags, Badela was shown the door, while Middendorp soon “completed his short-term duties” with the Durban-based side.
Since then, Pitso Dladla has been holding the fort in the first team on an interim basis – and doing a sterling job, given where the club currently finds itself. He has, however, lauded the managerial style of Kadodia, who is no stranger to the top-flight, dating back to when the club was still called Maritzburg United and based in Pietermaritzburg.
“It’s a collective effort from all the departments in the team. I think the chairman, board of directors and management are doing a great job. The support and the technical team are behind the team,” Dladla said.
“The medical and performance team are all functional. I think that’s helping us as a team holistically. Another point is that if you look at all these departments, starting with the chairman and management, they are not new in this league. They’ve been around for years and know what to expect.”
Dladla is also no stranger to top-flight football, having had a stint at Richards Bay as an assistant. That is why he believes that slight exposure – along with the experience of some of his players – has helped them stay afloat despite the technical reshuffles.
“Coming to the technical team, we may be new, but I have had a full season in this league. That helps a lot. Coming to the players, as much as most of them were playing in the NFD, they have campaigned in the elite league before,” Dladla said.
While Dladla and his troops have garnered invaluable points that have lifted them away from the relegation debate for now, he is bothered by the fact that they are yet to claim KwaZulu-Natal bragging rights against their neighbours. That is why the clash against Arrows will be about more than just progressing to the Nedbank Cup semi-final.
“It’s true we haven’t beaten any team here in KZN, but at the same time we are trying to create a situation where we dominate the province,” Dladla said. “Coming into this Nedbank Cup game, it’s a very important game for us.
“We also want to have more confidence as a team. Sometimes playing your neighbours can kill the confidence that has been built over the past few weeks. It’s a cup game, but we are not treating it any differently from a league game.”
Dladla has warned that they have already stretched some of their players this season, including goalkeeper Darren Keet, who has played most of their games across the board. That is why they will strongly consider rotation in Umlazi.
“There are very crucial decisions that we need to make as a team. We need to consider the reports from our conditioning guys – they still have to do their final reports. We also have to consider the performance team in terms of their analysis,” Dladla said.
“We need to find the right balance. I don’t know whether rotation is the right word, or whether we should say fresher legs. We are really concerned about the mileage that has to be covered by certain players … I don’t think you’ll see some of the players on Sunday.”
*Mihlali Baleka is Independent Media's senior football reporter and a panelist on the group's soccer podcast, The D-Line, which is exclusive on our YouTube channel The Clutch