AmaZulu plot Manqoba Mngqithi reunion: How the plan will work

AmaZulu FC and coach Manqoba Mngqithi are plotting a grand reunion with a master plan in place, all ready to elevate the KwaZulu-Natal-based club to the next level.

Mngqithi has played a low profile at Mamelodi Sundowns since his demotion from co-head coach to senior coach last year. Rulani Mokwena seized the ultimate mantle. 

Now, Mngqithi cuts a calm figure at Sundowns, although his contract with the club expires in June.

While the recently crowned DStv Premiership champions have the option to extend Mngqithi’s contract, no intent has been shown so far.

It is doubtful that Sundowns would table a new deal for Mngqithi, and his nine-year romance at the Tshwane outfit looks set to end when the curtain comes down on the 2022/23 season.

THE GRAND PLAN TO BRING MANQOBA MNGQITHI IN

With the technical team changes at AmaZulu last week, Mngqithi has emerged as the front-runner to take their Vision 2032 forward.

Club legend Ayanda Dlamini replaced Romain Folz with just six games before the season ended.

Folz has been redeployed to remain in the system and is part of the club’s grand plan. In the interim, Folz will function in the nominal role of technical adviser to club president Sandile Zungu with a bias towards Vision 2032.  

But the long-term plan is for him to serve under Mngqithi as an assistant.

“The idea is for Folz to stay on and assist Manqoba when he takes over as head coach. Ayanda Dlamini, who was Manqoba’s player during his time as head coach of AmaZulu, will also be part of the technical team,” an insider told FARPost.

A week before the technical team changes at AmaZulu, Zungu stressed that Folz understood and embraced Vision 2032 and was with the club for the long haul.

The Frenchman has a three-year deal waiting for him on July 1 2023.  

“I wanna state categorically, Romain is with us for another three seasons, and things do change; people get offers. But we want to build this team with him. We will discuss his thoughts about the players for next season,” Zungu told FARPost before effecting the recent changes.

The Umlazi-born businessman is on record saying he envisions Usuthu rising to greater heights in the next decade to become a formidable force on the local football front by 2032 when they celebrate their 100th anniversary.

THE AMAZULU PROJECT 

“I’m building AmaZulu for the future. It’s a project for the long haul,” Zungu told FARPost in October 2022.

Interestingly, the 51-year-old Sundowns mentor has been identified as the coach whose philosophy aligns with Usuthu’s long-term strategy.

AmaZulu sources say there is confidence that Mngqithi can build a successful and exciting team. 

That means he must be involved in player recruitment before the 2023/24 season. 

“There’s a feeling that he understands the kind of players the AmaZulu project needs at this point. Management will lean on him for guidance in terms of that,” added the insider.

And those close to the former Golden Arrows and Chippa United coach say he is determined to prove himself elsewhere in the DStv Premiership.

He believes his big-club experience with Sundowns, where he started in 2014 under Pitso Mosimane, stands him in good stead. 

For six years, Mngqithi sat next to Mosimane, and together they plotted the downfall of opponents week after week. In 2016, they took it to the continent, lifting the coveted CAF Champions League title.

Mngqithi rose to prominence during his initial three-year stint at Arrows, guiding the side in over 100 games, notably their first piece of silverware – the MTN8 trophy. He was 37 at the time, earning himself plaudits as one of the brightest young minds in football.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Thereafter, Mngqithi, who hails from Umzimkhulu, some 108 km southwest of Pietermaritzburg, switched base to join AmaZulu in July 2010. 

He was in charge of the Durban-based team for 36 games before packing his bags for the Chilli Boys, where he was only in charge for one game with the Eastern Cape-based side. 

“When he left AmaZulu, we were shocked because he had just appointed me captain. We couldn’t believe it,” former AmaZulu skipper Tapuwa Kapini tells FARPost.

There is, therefore, a sense that Mngqithi has unfinished business with the club, having cut short his stint on 19 September 2011.

This time, the mandate is as clear as daylight in the coastal city. Zungu’s objectives for the club, according to our source, have been informally made known to Mngqithi.

Chief amongst them is increased success on the field, with the greater ambition being the elevation of Usuthu into one of the country’s most feared and respected sides. 

“I want AmaZulu to be a top-four team…. If you say give me four teams in the country, you’ll give me AmaZulu and three others. 

“It’s not going to be because we have a good profile. But it will be because we’re winning games, trophies, and we play the kind of football worth watching,” Zungu said. 

On Friday, 14 April 2023, the Usuthu supremo admitted that he was interested in Mngqithi. Of course, he went on to play safe, saying, “definitely not what’s on the table”.

ZUNGU WANTS MNGQITHI AT AMAZULU

“We’ll clarify the coaching issue at the end of the season. Manqoba is someone we’d love to have in our team, and at the moment, he’s Sundowns’ property. They have an option, which they have to exercise in May.

“It’s only then we can talk more definitively with him,” he told FARPost in a telephonic interview.

Regarding Folz, he said the former Marumo Gallants man was still their employee. He, however, would not confirm if he would eventually assist Mngqithi.

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