Exactly 20 years ago, Sergio dos Santos was at the helm of Kaizer Chiefs, but he feels he joined the club at the wrong time.
Dos Santos worked with some of the best players to come out of South African football, but his time as Amakhosi did not end so well. Soccer Laduma got in touch with him to share his memories of the time he spent with the Soweto giants.
The season
I coached Chiefs in 1993. I didn't last the whole season. It was a difficult time for me because when I took over at Chiefs, Augusto Palacios, who was the manager of the Bafana Bafana squad, had a camp during the off-season for the players. So, when I got to Chiefs, the players were not available for pre-season training. I had about nine players in the camp, which affected the situation regarding playing certain players in the friendly matches. When it came to the serious matches, I had to bring the other players back. So that was a little bit of a problem and it put us under some pressure. Also, besides the league matches, we were participating in Africa for the very first time, so I was under a lot of pressure. I was basically forced to resign due to bad behaviour by the supporters. At that stage, we had played something between seven and 10 matches. We were lying fourth on the league and I think we were about three or four points from the top and we had got into the quarterfinal of the African Cup. So, we were not doing so badly. We lost to Swallows and the crowd went bananas. They were not happy. My life was threatened and I was basically forced to resign. I never got to finish the season.
How the move happened
I had coached Cape Town Spurs. I got them promoted from the NFD, the second division those days. I had two good seasons with them and I got approached by Kaizer (Motaung) and I was very excited because obviously I played for them and I thought I should take the chance. There was no certainty at Cape Town Spurs at that stage, so I took the chance and went.
My first day
The first day was basically a case of meeting the players who were available. It was mostly the young players, but the big players were all in the national team camp. It was a good get-together with the players as I explained the situation to them. I told them that they would get a chance to show what they can do in the friendly and that we would see what happens when all the other players come back from the national team.
Who was in the team?
I had great players. I had guys like Bothende Eshele, Neil Tovey and Wade du Plessis. I signed Shoes Moshoeu and I signed Steve Komphela and I signed Benjamin Reed. Those were the three additions to the squad. But, like I said, we had players in the Bafana Bafana squad and it made it difficult for me. I also had a few players getting on in age and my instruction from the directors was to bring in more youngsters and slowly start to let go of the older players. But then that became a problem. I think I joined Chiefs at the incorrect time. The timing was wrong. I was ready for the job, but the timing was wrong.
Who was the captain and why?
The captain was Neil Tovey. He was the captain already from the year before under Jeff Butler. He was the captain and stayed on as captain. He was a good leader and led by example on the field of play.
Best thing about the job
I played for the club for three years, so I knew Kaizer quite well. He is a top class chairman and his directors were very professional. That was outstanding. Plus, every time you played, you played in a full house. The players were technically gifted and skillful. They were enjoying the training. Everything was good as far as that is concerned. The problem is that there were a couple of results and one or two players who did not behave themselves, and made it difficult for me.
Worst thing about the job
The worst thing was that I had to do my pre-season training without the entire squad. That affected the situation badly because some of the players who were playing in the friendly matches had done exceptionally well and they felt that they deserved a chance to play and obviously I was under pressure and I had to bring the big name players back. In the Spectacular (pre-season tournament), for example, we beat Sundowns in the first match and went to the final against Pirates. I had to put some of the big names in and the other players were not happy about that. It was a big problem for me.
Difficult conversation with the chairman
The only difficult conversation was when he called me in. We had played against Moroka Swallows at Rand Stadium and they had beaten us 2-1. The crowd was not happy and I was escorted off the field by going to the opposite side of the main stand, where Teenage Dladla was waiting for me with his car. He was one of my assistants. He drove me to the hotel and then Kaizer phoned to tell me that I should be at the office the following morning. At the meeting, he said as much as we would like to keep you, we cannot guarantee your safety and, as such, we are asking you to consider your position. It was difficult and I was under the impression that, with patience, I would transform the squad. I had three new players that I had signed and I had a lot of quality there. I had one or two bad results and that obviously put the pressure on me and made it easy for some of the players to not maybe play to their true potential to expose me and get me out, which was very sad for me. It was a painful time in my football (career) because I love Chiefs and I wanted to be there.
My last day at the club
There was no chance for me to speak to the players. It was a case of 'get me out of here'. They told me that the crowd was waiting for me outside the entrance of the change rooms. They escorted me and I didn't even get a chance to speak to the players. When I asked if I could, on the decision to let me go, I was told that I could not address the players.