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Coach Dan Malesela's message to Chippa United owner Siviwe Mpengesi: 'Please call me'

Former Chippa United head coach Dan Malesela.
Former Chippa United head coach Dan Malesela.
Image: Frikkie Kapp/BackpagePix

Coach Dan Malesela has sent a ‘come and get me’ message to Chippa United owner Siviwe Mpengesi and said he is willing to return to the Port Elizabeth club immediately should the call come.

“If they really want me‚ they must call me to tell that they want me and when should I start‚” Malesela told SowetanLIVE on Thursday.

“The only thing I can do at the moment is to wait for their call.

"I am hoping that when they call it is not too late because the team needs to be properly prepared for the remaining matches as they have not played competitive football in a long time.”

If Malesela gets the call from Mpengesi and they agree on terms‚ it will be his third stint as head coach of the Eastern Cape side.

The well-travelled mentor insisted that he has no problems working with the notoriously trigger-happy Mpengesi and would jump at the chance to return to Port Elizabeth.

“I know people will say 'why is Dan going back to Chippa'‚ but if you really look at it‚ and irrespective of what I have done in football‚ he is the only one who is giving me a chance in the PSL‚" he said.

"No one has given me a chance in the PSL and besides that he knows that the only major successes the club had in the PSL were when I was there.

"The only time Chippa made the top eight was with me‚ and the first time they hit the three semifinals was with me. The most recent semifinal appearance was also with me.

“To those people who say why am I willing to go back there after what happened in the past‚ the reality is that I have to work like anyone else.

"I cannot be sitting at home with grudges of things that happened in the past."

Malesela is confident that he can move Chippa out of the relegation zone in their remaining six matches.

“For me‚ it will only be taking the remaining six matches and seeing where we can put the club‚" he said.

"Chippa is on both ends of the border because they can still make the top eight and they can also still get relegated.

"For this period‚ which is going to be difficult‚ you need somebody who knows what to do and for me this thing of sitting at home has taught me that what you can do when things are like this.

“There is a huge difference when you are playing with a crowd and without a crowd‚ so as a coach you should know what to do in any given circumstance and get the team to play and win matches.

"You can’t compromise the style of play‚ but you must enhance it. You need to budget the 90 minutes and see how quickly you can get the goals and how tight you can be in terms of defending.

"We play with patience but things have to be quicker than normal and you will rely on things like set-pieces. But you must remember that to get set-pieces you must force opponents to make mistakes.

"Their remaining matches are not easy but I believe we can come up with something because there is not a lot of consistency in the PSL from other clubs.”