AmaZulu announce Martin appointment

Pablo Franco Martin

Wednesday Jun 21, 2023. 15:00

AmaZulu have turned to Pablo Franco Martin in a bid to return to the CAF competitions after he agreed a three-year contract with the DStv Premiership club on Monday.

The Spanish tactician has been out of a job since he parted ways with Tanzanian giants Simba in May 2022, while his CV includes a spell at Getafe and Real Madrid, where he served as assistant manager to Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari during the 2018-19 season.

However, Martin impressed the Usuthu hierarchy when interviewed for the post at the Moses Mabhida Stadium and chairman Sandile Zungu believes he is the right man to take the team forward.

The Durban outfit endured a disappointing 2022-23 campaign and went through three coaches as they eventually finished just three points above the relegation zone in 12th place.

Brandon Truter started the campaign at the helm before being replaced by Romain Folz, who ended up moving into the technical role after failing to turn Amaqhawe’s fortunes around despite guiding them to the MTN 8 final.

Former AmaZulu striker Ayanda Dlamini took over the reins for the final few games, but both he and Folz have since departed, with Zungu now pinning his hopes on Martin.

“We are absolutely delighted at the quality of parties that we interviewed, who shared with us their ideas about Usuthu,” he said in a statement. “Usuthu is loved and seen as a very attractive prospect.

“We emerged with one name. A name that the players will be very happy with. We believe that the local league will be richer with a person of this gentleman’s calibre coming to the DStv Premiership.”

Commenting on Martin’s mandate, Zungu added: “We will sit down with him to set the targets, but one of them is that we want to finish in the top four. We are top-quarter team; we want to cement our place in the top four and to compete for every cup on offer.

“There are much more specific targets that we will discuss and agree with him, specifically to participate in CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup. It is our ambition, we believe he’s appraised with those ambition and he believes he can lead us down that path.”