Roped in to salvage a seemingly hopeless situation at Marumo Gallants, Dan Malesela is once again doing the business, writes MOGAMAD ALLIE.
Nine games into the season, still searching for their first league win, and rock bottom.
The situation looked decidedly grim as Marumo Gallants, even with only a third of the season gone, seemed doomed for relegation.
The crisis continued when Frenchman Sebastien Migne, who took charge of the Limpopo side at the start of the season, was fired in early October for verbally abusing technical director Harris Cheou.
But the appointment of Malasela in November was a masterstroke. When ‘Dance’, as he is affectionately known, took over Gallants had picked up only four points, all of which came from draws. At the break for the Africa Cup of Nations between January and February night had turned into day for the club that bought the franchise of Bidvest Wits in 2020.
They catapulted into 11th place in the league standings, having picked up 19 points, and were even challenging for a top-eight spot. More importantly, they were six clear of the relegation zone.
The former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns defender got off to a dream start with a 2-1 win over SuperSport United. He swiftly guided his new team to calmer waters with a five-game unbeaten run that also included victories over fellow-strugglers TS Galaxy, Sekhukhune United and Swallows FC.
Malesela was particularly delighted with that solid away win over Matsatsantsa. ‘It’s a good space to be in now. When you come to a club and you get your first win, first win for the club as well, it’s a good thing. But most of all, I’m grateful that the players were listening and adjusted to what we are trying to do,’ the 56-year-old coach said after the game.
‘I am very pleased with the effort that the boys have put in. One can only be proud of how they adapted and tried to implement my philosophy,’ Malesela told the Citizen newspaper.
‘This is not the full package at this point because we did not have much time, but they understood many things that we tried to impart and that is just amazing. One can only be proud and look forward to progress at the club in the New Year.’
The side showed how far they had come by holding defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns to a 1-1 draw in their last game of 2021.
One problem the coach is working on is his team’s lack of goals – after 17 games they had rippled the net only 12 times. ‘We will train and practise some of the things that we need to know. We will also need players – we need wingers and at least two strikers.
‘We have been creating chances to score but we have not been scoring so we need to freshen up that department. That is No 1 on my agenda because we have to score goals.’
It’s an indictment on PSL clubs that Malesela has become something of a journeyman when his record speaks for itself. In the first of four spells with Chippa United, he coached the Chilli Boys to a club-record sixth place at the end of the 2015-16 season. And he famously guided TS Galaxy, then an NFD side, to a shock 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs to lift the Nedbank Cup in 2019.
Renowned for getting his teams to play attractive football, much like the piano and shoeshine style that the all-conquering Sundowns sides delivered under the late Ted Dumitru in the late 1990s, Malesela is doing it again at Marumo Gallants.
