Richards Bay co-head coach Vasili Manousakis admits Benni McCarthy has played a major role in his career and was ‘pleased’ with their result over AmaZulu.
Manousakis served as McCarthy’s assistant at Cape Town City and AmaZulu before they both eventually received their marching order from Usuthu in the space of a few months.
While Bafana Bafana’s all-time record scorer has since landed a dream job at Premier League giants Manchester United, Manousakis has led the newly promoted DStv Premiership side alongside Pitso Dladla to incredible heights.
After 10 games played, they find themselves two points behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and their last two games saw them hold Orlando Pirates to a 0-0 draw away from home with 10 men and beat his former side Usuthu after a stoppage-time strike last week.
“Working with Benni, I think in total maybe three-and-a-half, four seasons, this is my sixth consecutive [season] in the PSL,” he said when asked about the influence of McCarthy.
“The time with him was unbelievable, and you know, you get head coaches who are insecure and you get those with zero insecurities. And they allow you to be who you are, and to participate and he was like that from the first day at Cape Town City.
“So we also grew together and it was unbelievable, I speak to him twice a week, I spoke to him the other night, and we chatted about the AmaZulu result, he was pleased but ya to work with someone like that…
“He’s an unbelievable coach, young innovative, his training sessions are dynamic, the intensity is there, how does he end up at Manchester United? He’s a top coach and I was blessed to work with him and I worked a lot. Obviously, I have my own type of idea here and there about the game so ya, that’s Benni.”
The Natal Richboyz have the best defensive record in the league so far, conceding only three goals, two of which were penalties in their first 10 games in their top-flight history.
