Zondo Breaks Silence On Surprise Royal AM Appointment

New Royal AM coach Khabo Zondo has explained how his surprise move to ‘Thwili Thwala’ came about after he had been absent from the Premier Soccer League since 2015.

Zondo’s last job in the PSL was with Royal Eagles in 2015/16 and the 60-year-old has been out of the professional game for a few years, even though he was involved with the Nedbank Cup talent ID program.

However, Royal AM’s appointment of Zondo hit many by surprise and the new coach now revealed how he received a call out of the blue from president Shauwn ‘Mam’ Mkhize first.

“The first call that came, came from the president herself: ‘Khabo are you ready to come here?’,” he told Andile Ncube on Sports Night Amplified.

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“She said,’our way of doing things here, the CEO must call you. He will interview you. This is our interest at the moment. It will up to whether you take the opportunity or not.’ 

“In a space of five minutes Sinky called, as the CEO of club. We had a lengthy talk and all the questions and worries that you have, we spoke about that. He was convinced, he’s been in the game.

“I don’t have agent, I don’t have a manager. The only person that I have is a friend and which is Jazzman Mahlakgane. 

“It was a cold call, ‘come in and let’s talk’. The next day I was there and we talked.”

Zondo also opened up on his contract details and explained he was involved in Royal AM’s acquisition of Samir Nurkkovic, Ruzaigh Gamildien, Khetukuthula Ndlovu and Andre de Jong.

“It’s a two-year contract with a one-year option,” he added.

“One thing that I appreciate the club did, before they could even clinch the deals with these players, they did talk to me.

“The players coming into club, they did talk to me, ask what are your thoughts about them. I appreciate them, these are players that one can work with.”

Zondo has also coached teams like Arrows, Nathi Lions, Bay United, Bloemfontein Celtic and Tembisa Classic, while spending some time at Mamelodi Sundowns and working as the national U17 coach.

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