TS Galaxy coach Dan Malesela believes he is a trend-setter rather than a trend follower in football, saying that playing entertaining football was one of his key objectives as a coach.
The former Orlando Pirates captain, who exactly a month ago delivered one of the biggest upsets in South African football history, is a man that does not always receive the credit he deserves.
Widely regarded as one of the most promising coaches in the country, Malesela has often lost out on bigger jobs because of his determination to put good football at the top of his priority list, ahead even of win at all costs. He says this perception has saddened him.
Malesela famously lead his National First Division (NFD) Galaxy to the Nedbank Cup title on May 18 when they stunned Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the final.
The result proved to everyone that pretty football can prevail over result-driven football that Malesela alluded to.
It also landed egg in the face of those that had doubted the 53-year-old former Chippa United coach.
Malesela, however, insisted that he was never a man that had a desire to prove others wrong. Instead he hoped that his first professional title will be the start of many trophies to come.
Malesela also revealed that he was always trying to think out of the box and be ahead of the game with his coaching methodologies and tactics.
The ex-Pirates captain says that this vision and foresight has also won him plenty of admirers, suggesting that respect was what he wanted most from South Africans for the work he had done over the years. – Report by Thahir Asmal
