Royal AM coach John Maduka didn’t want to be drawn into talk whether he was to blame for the relegation battle his former club Maritzburg United find themselves in.
Maduka left Royal AM at the end of last season to take over the post at Maritzburg in June, replacing Ernst Middendorp after the German was fired.
But the former Bloemfontein Celtic coach struggled to get wins with the Team of Choice, winning only two of his 13 matches in charge. He was fired in November and replaced by Fadlu Davids.
Davids tried to patch things up, winning three of the first four games in charge and slowly moving away from the bottom, which was where Maduka left the club at.
But following a run of five defeats in six games, Maritzburg had tumbled back to the bottom of the log, where they currently sit with 29 points after 29 matches.
They gave themselves hopes of survival by beating Stellenbosch FC 1-0 in the penultimate game of the season on Saturday, which was further enhanced by TS Galaxy crushing Chippa Unite 4-0, also on Saturday.
Maduka was asked, if he should take a portion of the blame for Maritzburg’s struggles and whether he would have changed things if he had been given more time, but he declined to reply.
“I think let me not comment on that,” said Maduka to iDiski Times, after Royal AM were humbled by Swallows at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday.
“If I say if I was still there I would have done this and that, you know it’s football.”
He admitted though that he was pleased to see them pick up three points against Stellenbosch.
“It is good that they got the points against the Stellies and now I know it will go all the way to the last game of the season,” he added.
The Team of Choice will finish the season against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday, with the Tshwane giants could potentially rotate their squad as they have the second leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final against Wydad Athletic Club on Saturday.
– Advertisement –
However, Maritzburg need to try to at least get a point, if not win against Sundowns – a team they have not defeated away from home in 11 years, while the Tshwane giants are chasing history and could surpass their record tally of 71 points from the 2015/16 season.
“Everything is possible,” Maduka said in short, when asked if Maritzburg have a chance to upset the apple cart against Sundowns.
