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Ncikazi: ‘Being like Komphela will be setting myself up for failure’

New Maritzburg United coach Mandla Ncikazi has been instructed to lift the team even higher‚ and on Thursday said he was up for the challenge.

With his promotion from assistant — which was announced officially at a press conference on Thursday — all the Premier Soccer League’s top eight sides are coached by South Africans.

Stuart Baxter was the only foreign coach in this bracket before his departure from league champions Kaizer Chiefs.

“With the PSL having so many local coaches‚ maybe it was about time for me to get an opportunity and test my abilities as a coach‚” said Ncikazi‚ who replaces Steve Komphela‚ who has moved to Chiefs.

Ncikazi was competing for the post against the likes of former New Zealand national team coach Ricki Herbert and former Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates coach Julio Cesar Leal‚ but Maritzburg chairman Farook Kadodia decided to promote from within.

Ncikazi has been given a two-year deal and he will be assisted by Fadlu Davids.

“I’m not going to try to be like Steve Komphela. If I do so‚ I will be setting myself up for failure.”

Ncikazi said he was not weighed down by the expectation of taking the team to new heights after their above-average 2014-15 season during which they took points off the big three sides‚ including wins over Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

Maritzburg United finished in the top eight for the first time last season and even though Komphela was the face of that success‚ Ncikazi went about his job quietly as the assistant coach as the side went through the season efficiently.

The shoes left by Komphela are big‚ but Ncikazi wants to make his own mark in his own way while not shifting away from what worked for the club last season.

“If the structure of the club did not change‚ the methodology does not change and we keep most of the personnel that took us to number eight last season‚ we should be good to go.

“When we share the same vision and philosophy‚ not much is going to change‚” Ncikazi said.

“Football is about pressure and I have faced the pressure as an assistant with Maritzburg United and other teams. I don’t think it will be much different in this case.”

Ncikazi’s mandate to improve on last season was clear.

“We have achieved the first target of a top eight‚ which was well deserved and overdue‚” said Kadodia.

“This coming season‚ the mandate is for a strong top eight‚ achieving silverware and making cup finals while building the brand at the same time.

“Getting Mandla in as coach was a carefully guarded decision and we did not panic in terms of making that decision.

“I was very close to the technical team and I was impressed with the work the new coach had put in while he was assistant coach.”

There is still the ugly matter of Komphela’s compensation that is hanging over the club after the coach upped and left for Naturena‚ but Kadodia did not want to comment on the matter.

“That topic is not up for discussion as it is now a legal matter so I will not bring up the subject again. I will not comment on it‚” Kadodia said.

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