Former Cape Town City and AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has expressed his interest in taking over the coaching duties of the struggling Kaizer Chiefs.
Benni’s contract with Manchester United is nearing an end and he has hinted that a return to the South African football may be on the cards for him.
The Bafana Bafana all-time leading goal scorer track record in coaching South African teams speak for itself, he led Cape Town City FC towards lifting their first trophy in the 2018/2019 season while securing a fourth-place finish. His second-place finish with AmaZulu in the 2020/2021 season was rewarded with the Coach of the Season accolade.
When asked if he would be interested in taking over the reins at Kaizer Chiefs, McCarthy said Amakhosi are not a club that a coach would say no to, given its rich history and the fact that it is a club that he has a lot of love for.
“Not many coaches in the world say no to institutions, Man United is an institution, Real Madrid is an institution, Bayern Munich is an institution. Vincent Kompany has joined Bayern Munich, he has gone to join an institution. I think we can safely say that Kaizer Chiefs is also an institution, listen, it’s a great club that I always had a lot of love for. My local team, the team that I supported as a kid is the Black and Gold of Kaizer Chiefs. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure to play for them or to coach them.”
“If the opportunity comes or anything, of course, I’ll have to sit down and think about it because like I said, you don’t say no to institutions,” said the Manchester United coach.
Chiefs are searching for a new head coach after experiencing one of their worst seasons this year which saw them finishing tenth on the DStv Premiership log standings while extending their trophy drought to nine years. They have been without a permanent coach since the firing of Molefi Ntseki in October 2023 who was replaced by Cavin Johnson temporarily but could not steer the team towards achieving positive results.
A number of formidable coaches’ names have been rumoured for the Chiefs job but none have been confirmed and it would be interesting to see McCarthy at the helm of the Naturena side.
Written by Siphesihle Soni