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Chippa official Mammila on sitting on the bench: ‘I want to coach Bafana one day’

Mahlatse Mphahlele Sports reporter
Chippa United general manager and assistant coach Morgan Mammila during warm-ups for the DStv Premiership match against Supersport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on April 5.
Chippa United general manager and assistant coach Morgan Mammila during warm-ups for the DStv Premiership match against Supersport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on April 5.
Image: Sydney Mahlangu /BackpagePix

Having cut his teeth as an administrator, Morgan Mammila has turned his attention to the dugout where he says he has the lofty ambition of becoming coach of Bafana Bafana one day.

Mammila performs the administrative duty of football manager at Eastern Cape DStv Premiership team Chippa United, but has started doubling up as assistant coach to caretaker coach Kurt Lentjies as he takes baby steps into coaching.

In a flamboyant career, Mammila previously served as CEO at Limpopo club Baroka FC when they won the Telkom Knockout in 2018, beating Orlando Pirates in the final.

Since he has sat on the bench alongside Lentjies for the past two matches, Chippa have registered a 1-1 draw against SuperSport United and a 1-0 win over Stellenbosch to move out of the relegation zone.

“The short term plan is to move this team as far away as possible from the relegation zone and the long term plan is to become Bafana Bafana coach and help the country win the Africa Cup of Nations,” Mammila told TimesLIVE.

“I don’t want to talk about teams in the league [that he wants to coach] because people will feel threatened, but I see myself coaching the national team in about 12 years or less.

“There is no rush, I am taking steps into coaching and my target is becoming head coach of a club in seven years. There is a lot of learning to do, but I am enjoying every moment of this journey so far.

“On Wednesday I am starting with my D license coaching course because I am going into full-time coaching.”

Mammila said he is enjoying working with ex-Chippa midfield or attacking star Lentjies.

“I was asked by the chairman of the club [Siviwe "Chippa" Mpengesi] to move to the bench and his reasoning was that every time I make inputs, I make sense with the way I explain things to him.

“He said to me, 'You are in the wrong place, make a move to be closer to the technical team', and I made that move. Fortunately, I have been working closely with Kurt.

“We discuss a lot of technical issues and it was not a problem to work closer to him because we have a good understanding. Our working relationship is good, it is more of a brotherly relationship.

“He doesn’t see me as a threat to his job but as someone who is here to try to help. He is the one who leads in terms of planning training sessions and I follow his plans. I am an assistant coach, but I still hold the position of football manager.

“I started my journey as a coach many years ago in the amateur ranks. I used to own a team called Mmatlopo United that was playing in the SAB League in the Sekhukhune region.

“I won the league twice there, we beat all the Limpopo regions, and that was when I started talking to Baroka because they saw what I was doing there.”

Chippa are in 12th place in the Premiership, five points above relegation danger. Their next match is against Pirates at Orlando Stadium next Wednesday (April 27).

TimesLIVE

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