Zungu makes sweeping changes at AmaZulu

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Jun 06, 2023. 13:00

AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu has vowed to consult his peers when making important decisions at the DStv Premiership club in the future following a disappointing 2022-23 season.

Zungu revealed on Monday that Romain Folz had left Usuthu along with Ayanda Dlamini, while veteran striker Lehlohonolo Majoro also departed the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Folz was appointed head coach on a short-term contract in October 2022 and guided the team to the MTN 8 final, where they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Orlando Pirates.

The French-Moroccan tactician was subsequently handed a new long-term deal but struggled to get the best out of his players and was eventually moved into a technical role, with Dlamini taking over the reins until the end of the campaign.

However, the former AmaZulu star won just one of his six games at the helm as the Durban outfit finished 12th after losing 4-0 to the Buccaneers on the final day.

Zungu admits he failed to adequately deal with certain issues at the club and confirmed that Folz rejected an offer to continue in an advisory role as he wants to return to the dugout.

“There are a lot of things that went wrong in our campaigns and in that regard, I will take responsibility for some of the wrong things that have happened and it is not for me to point fingers at anyone,” he said.

“This time the changes I’m making I’m consulting a lot widely within my organisation, using the wisdom of those who love AmaZulu how to go about things. We will make changes differently.

“If you look at the past season, we should have clamped down on discipline much earlier in the team. We should have clamped down on incidents of wayward behaviour. We are taking the necessary steps to make sure that in future such doesn’t occur.”

Commenting on Folz, Zungu added: “When Ayanda was tasked with the responsibility of the interim head coach, I kept him [Folz] close to myself as a technical director.

“He was basically advising me and not interfering with the team preparation and selection for the next six games, and he understood that.

“When I told him I would like to retain him in some technical advising role, he indicated that he is anxious to get back to the bench and is exploring a number of options.

“In that case, he would rather resign from the team, and I’ve accepted that decision that he wants to be on the bench as a coach.”