Coach Mammila understands players, says Lebitso

Chippa United midfielder Thabiso Lebitso has shared his thoughts about the impressive run under coach Morgan Mammila.

Before the Fifa World Cup break in Qatar, the Chilli Boys were doing well, especially after Mammila replaced Daine Klate as coach.

Under Mammila, who traded his administrative role at the club for coaching, Chippa won four games in a row before losing to Cape Town City in their last match before the break.

And Lebitso said the understanding between him and the players had been key in their excellent run.

“What I can say is that the coach has been here for some time and his understanding of the players has been the key because he knows a lot of players and he worked with a lot of them here,” Lebitso told Sowetan yesterday.

“The nice thing about him and the technical team is they understand the players well, even though there are a lot of new players that came at the beginning of the season.

“But he has been good with player management, like how to connect with us and that makes a differance.”

Lebitso, 30, added that Mammila was open to everyone and they played without fear of making mistakes.

“He is also very close to the players and we understand what he wants us to do or what he wants to implement, and we are responding well,” he said.

“And also the way he is behaving, we know that he was not a coach before and he started now and he is very good as the players are engaging more with him. If the players don’t understand something it is easy for us to ask and that’s why we are not scared to play football.

“What makes him different from the others also is he is open to anyone. He treats everyone the same, whether you are old or young, that’s why the youngsters are playing well.

“He understands football better and even if he doesn’t have the qualifications he knows what he is doing.”