Farouk Khan played an important role as an assistant coach at Kaizer Chiefs under Muhsin Ertugral and then Ted Dumitru, and has shared his journey at Naturena which saw him working with the two coaches who played a big role in his career.
The season
Both experiences under Muhsin Ertugral and Ted Dumitru were positive. Muhsin was very successful because the only thing we did not win was the league. If you can recall, that's the time time Jabu (Pule, now Mahlangu) and Patrick Mbuthu went AWOL. We just needed the last game to win the league and that obviously impacted hugely on the team and the league was lost. During that period of time, Chiefs enjoyed the most success than they ever did. If you look at that period, there was a slogan 'operation vat alles'. That's the part of history people sometimes forget, but not many, because to this day, there are fans who say, 'coach when are you coming back?' And they say that simply because of the success we had during that time.
Who was in the team
The team we had under Muhsin had the likes of Thabo Mooki and Doctor Khumalo was coming to the end of his career. That was the team that won the Mandela Cup. Marco Mthembu was also in the team and he was an underrated player. He had been to the states and had come back. When we were there, we managed to get the best out of Marco and the best out of Jabu as well. Muhsin's whole plan worked out well because the academy players were able to cope with what he expected from them at the time. We had players like Nhlanhla Kubheka, Gerald Sibeko and Isaac Mabotsa. Those players were involved and it was similar to what (Alex) Ferguson enjoyed at Manchester United, with the young ones coming into the first team. It laid a foundation for Ted. I came back from Santos to work with Ted because Muhsin had left Chiefs to go at Santos and he took me with. When Muhsin left Santos, I brought in Boebie Solomons and we won the Absa Cup and survived. And then the next season, Kaizer (Motaung) called me back to Chiefs to work with Ted Dumitru. That was a wonderful era of Kaizer Chiefs. It was just about us winning cups and league titles (under Dumitru), but it was also the way team played. Collins Mbesuma was at his best. We had the late 'Scara' Ngobese playing his best football. He played his best football at Chiefs. I remember we moved Kubheka to left back and he played so well. Tinashe Nengomasha played a big role in midfield and you had a guy like Derrick Spencer who came as well. We had a blend of youth and experience because we had also signed Rene Richards.
Who was the captain and why
I remember Patrick Mabedi was captain at some point and Brian Baloyi. Look, we had a captain, but we had a group of senior players who would assist in managing the affairs. Patrick was the longest I can remember as a captain. He was a leader and he led by example. He had the respect of the players.
The difference between Ertugral and Dumitru
Muhsin was a pragmatic, modern day coach as far as preparation is concerned. Ted is someone who could get the best out of players based on knowing the culture and background. If I tell you the difference in training, it was worlds apart. Ted used to focus more on small-sided games, on more developmental aspects of football, like looking at individual players. Muhsin would do both, but he was more on the basis of tactics. There was a lot more tactical training with Muhsin, whereas with Ted, it was more on technique. The focus was more on technical application and Muhsin was more on physical and tactical side of the game. He was a thorough coach, very modern day coach and a coach with a huge volume of knowledge. I learnt a lot with him, but with Ted being my mentor, I learnt a whole lot from him as far as development is concerned. I was able to gain a lot of knowledge from both of them in different ways. I was blessed to gain so much from them.
My role as an assistant coach
I just didn't end up by being an assistant. I was running the academy at the time. If you can recall, at the time, we promoted six or seven players into the first team. Muhsin was approached to say, 'why don't we have Farouk in the first team' and he welcomed that and he invited me over. I would coach in the morning with Muhsin in the first team and I learnt a lot because I was involved with him on a daily basis. In the afternoons, I would run the academy program with the late 'Ace' Ntsoelengoe. At a certain point, I became more involved with match analysis. During the game, I would watch the opposing team and at half time I would furnish him with information and we became close in that regard. I served both areas and it was quite demanding.
Best thing about the Chiefs job
Just being in the company of a technical team led by Muhsin. There was Rainer Dindelacker and Elsa Storm and Andre de Jong. We would go to Durban, and everything was synchronised by Muhsin. Rainer was the best goalkeeper coach Chiefs ever had. We tried to improve players. We had players who came to us as good players and we made them better players. That was a highlight for me to see how it was done. Another thing I enjoyed the most was the fact that we were winning things. Those are memories we will take to our grave. I was blessed to be involved in that era.
Worst thing about the job
The worst thing is when you lose. You can be a hero one day, and then when you lose, you are a zero. And that pressure would come from everywhere. When we play against Pirates and we lost, everybody who was your friend looks at you with big eyes. There was a time when we played Pirates the same season we won the league. We were on a winning streak and in that particular game, the 'Little Napoleon' (Benedict Vilakazi) came and spoilt our party. There was a two litre bottle that was thrown. It didn't hit us, but we could feel the impact of it. Ted and I walked and found ourselves on the halfway mark of the field. We managed to get out with security and we thought everything was fine. As we left the stadium, they hit the front window with a brick.
Who picked the team?
We had the support of Kaizer. He was never someone who would interfere with what we were doing. He left everything in our hands, when it came to team selection and training. Whatever we wanted, Kaizer made it possible. That's the type of person he is. He is someone who does not interfere. That's one of my highlights because sometimes you find yourself in spaces where they don't want to give coaches room to work. You hear rumours of what coaches go through.
Would you do it again?
Yes, I would do it better this time. There are a lot of things we learnt from that time that we could have done better.
