Marumo Gallants coach Romain Folz has paid homage to his predecessor Dan Malesela for the job he did at the club, including reaching the Nedbank cup final, ahead of their DStv Premiership clash on Sunday.
Malesela, who is now co-coach at KwaZulu Natal side Royal AM, will host Gallants in a DStv Premiership at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The man who replaced him has admitted that the 2022 Nedbank Cup finalists played like a well-coached team under the tutelage of ‘Dan Dance’.
“Regarding the coach (Dan Malesela), look, I don’t know the person. I know the coach from having watched the games from last season. I am sure he is a very good coach,” said Folz.
“I have nothing much to say. I am going to approach the game just like any other game, regardless of whoever is coaching.
“We are going to do as we always do. We will try to improve from one to another. So far, I see a progression out of every game. Game one, two and three, so I am hoping for the same to see improvements in game four.”
There has been a lot of tension between coach Malesela and the club since the two parties parted ways.
A few months ago, Malesela told FARPost that people within the club were hell-bent on tarnishing his name.
The allegations peddled at the time were that the 57-year-old attempted to get involved in match-fixing in a tie against one of the clubs fighting relegation.
“I don’t know whether they also know why they are doing this all; the rumours I hear, some of which are very big lies. Maybe it is somebody trying to create something so that I can move from the club,” a furious Malesela said at the time.
“If you say things, you must be careful that there are no repercussions because things could end up being bigger than what you think they are. If it affects someone’s career, then it is something else because this could affect my career if it were to come out as true. It is not true, and I will let it go because I think there are a lot of people at the club who need to learn how to operate in this game,” he added before his appointment at Royal AM.
