Former Orlando Pirates co-head coach Fadlu Davids has explained the details around his exit from Lokomotiv Moscow after less than three weeks.
Davids had joined former Bucs head coach Zinnbauer as assistant in Russia, but results didn’t go their way and Zinnbauer was relieved of his duties following a 4-0 defeat to Sochi on Saturday.
On Monday, Davids and the rest of the technical team were also let go, as initially confirmed by his agent Rasthoem Simons, and the 41-year-old now opened up on his short stint in Europe.
“It’s a bit of mixed emotions. I knew exactly when I got the call from Lokomotiv what the situation was,” he told Andile Ncube on Metro FM‘s Sports Night Amplified.
“Of course it was already three league matches that was lost and I knew the situation.
“Of course, the first [Cup] game we won 5-0. The second game 2-4, a loss and now this game a 0-4. After the game immediately the announcement was made that Josef Zinnbauer and the Sporting Director Thomas Zorn will be leaving the club, immediately in change room.
“Of course, it was Josef Zinnbauer that recommended me to the club and I had a conversation with him that if he’s leaving it’s not really possible for me to continue at the club.
“We then had the meeting with the club the following day with the General Manager – GM/head of the project, in other countries probably called the president – and the entire project was then scrapped. They are now going to bring in Russian coaches, Russian staff.
“So the entire staff parted as part of the restructuring and we agreed that all of the staff will leave the club and final details will be sorted out later on.”
Davids also admitted that he’d take the job again, even if he had known about his short intermezzo with the club.
“If I sit back and reflect and had I known what was going to happen, I’d still go,” he added.
“I’d still go, because it was invaluable going there, assessing the squad, assessing the mentality of the squad. We had the youngest squad in the league by far.
“Of course having this high-press/high-intensity approach, it was not really working and now having to implement and change. We were take steps in the right direction but when you have young players and you concede one or two goals, it’s very difficult to get their heads back up.
“I always want to push myself, getting positive feedback from the club, from the senior players and that did give me the confidence that I can coach at this level. Those endorsements, those positive words, coming from the club, from the senior players was really good to hear.
“It’s really showing that we as African coaches are as goos as European coaches, it’s just about getting the opportunity and getting the platform.”
