Shauwn Mkhize, the owner of Royal AM, has responded to the departure of Dan “Dance” Malesela, one of the club’s co-coaches, who recently signed a two-year contract with Marumo Gallants.
Malesela returned to his former club, Gallants, earlier this week, and Mkhize discussed the coach’s decision to leave his position at the Durban-based club during an interview on Metro FM’s Sports Night Amplified.
Mkhize revealed that Malesela felt his career was being hindered by working alongside two other coaches at Royal AM.
Mkhize said, “Dan approached me and expressed his interest in joining the club, but at that time, I already had coaches. He knew he would have to be a co-coach, but the truth is that Dan is an ambitious coach.”
She added, “I don’t think he was coping well with being a co-coach. He told me this after returning from sickness following their Caf Confederation Cup match against Mbabane Highlanders on 11 September.”
Mkhize understood and respected Malesela’s decision to step down from the co-coach role, stating, “He told me he wanted to further his career and felt that being a co-coach made it difficult to have control because a lot of decisions came from everyone. He just wanted to move forward.”
Malesela’s desire to lead a technical team and replicate his achievements from last season seemed to be too tempting to reject. He departs Royal AM, who are currently in the second round of preliminary qualification in the Confederation Cup. They are currently fourth in the Premiership standings, six points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Meanwhile, Marumo Gallants are at the bottom of the league table and have yet to secure a win this season. Malesela may have found confidence not only in his abilities but also in the fact that the league table is quite tight. Gallants are only three points behind 12th-placed Cape Town City and four points behind TS Galaxy in 10th, whom they will face after the international break.