Sheppard trusts players will respect him, Zwane as coaches

As Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane and his assistant Dillon Sheppard are relatively inexperienced and still fledging in coaching, players can easily undermine their authority.

Sheppard, who's five years younger than the 48-year-old Zwane, has detailed how they'll make sure they avoid being taken lightly by their charges. Chiefs confirmed last Thursday that Sheppard and Zwane will be working together after they both penned three-year deals.

"Yes, we're young coaches and some players are nearly our generation but the players are professionals. I wouldn't expect them to undermine us or whatever but we have plans in place to make sure the working relationship between us and them is wonderful,'' Sheppard told Sowetan at their unveiling at FNB Stadium last week.

"First of all, we'll be meeting players on one-on-one sessions. We will be building a strong bond with them as human beings first before we see them as players. That will surely prevent them from looking at us as people they can disrespect or undermine.''

In fact, "Sheppy" as Sheppard is known in football circles, believes being young coaches can be advantageous for them. “Sometimes it’s very tough on senior coaches who have had the reins over the years. They like to control quite a lot. Maybe that’s also a little different between young and old coaches, I’m not sure,'' noted the Chiefs deputy coach.

Sheppard also opened up about his bond with Zwane. The pair's relationship is built on their passion for working with younger players. Sheppard used to coach the Bidvest Wits Diski team while Zwane coached Chiefs'. 

“There’s a huge synergy between coach Arthur and myself. We are very, very close. We spend 12 hours every day when we are with the first team, we get to the academy, we are involved in the process with the kids at school, we are involved in the process of their training. We always talk about development and grassroots,'' stated Sheppard.s