As football progresses, South African clubs should look into adopting a culture of allowing coaches to pick their own assistants.
While there are instances where coaches have been given freedom to pick people who they want to work with, the culture in the PSL has usually been about clubs picking assistant coaches. Quite a number of foreign coaches have come into the country and have had to work with an assistant coach they find at the club.
With news coming through that Nasreddine Nabi wants to bring in his own technical team should he get appointed as head coach of Kaizer Chiefs, it only makes sense for him to work with people he knows and trusts. Chemistry is one of the most important things for a head coach and his assistant. So, it's best for club owners to put their trust in who they are appointing.
In an interview with the Siya crew a few weeks ago, Swallows FC chairman David Mogashoa confirmed that he would allow head coach Musa Nyatama to pick his own assistant. He made it clear that he did not want to impose on Nyatama. He wanted to give the young coach an opportunity to work with someone he feels would add the type of value he would like. This, I believe, is a step in the right direction.
I do understand the importance for a foreign coach to probably have a South African as part of the technical team at times to help guide the newly appointed man when it comes to the culture of South African football, but the first priority for clubs should be for coaches to bring in their own assistants to work with.
In Europe, this is something that has been going on for a number of years and, when things don't work out, usually the entire technical team is sacked to give way for new people to come in and do the job.
I've been in the football space for over 10 years now and I've come across stories where some coaches felt that their assistants, who were chosen by the club, were out to get them. Some of these coaches felt that the assistants that were picked for them were feeding information to management, which made life difficult when it came to working properly as a unit. So, to avoid all of this, club bosses should really consider allowing more coaches the opportunity to pick their own assistants.
If Chiefs are to hire Nabi as their new coach ahead of the new season, they should let the man bring in his own assistant. And this should be common practice with all the clubs in the local league.
