The man who masterminded the AmaZulu Reserves to the semifinals of the DStv Diski Challenge Rewired, Sboniso Vilakazi, has admitted he will ultimately be judged on how many of his players make the first team.
On his first season in charge of AmaZulu Reserves, Vilakazi seems to have had a crucial impact on the club’s development, not taking away anything from the past coaches. In seven Diski Challenge Rewired matches, AmaZulu are the only team that played all matches without defeat.
Usuthu finished second in their Stream One with 13 points, one adrift of Cape Town City, the stream winners. Interestingly, both coaches of AmaZulu and City are leading the respective teams for the first time in the Diski.
Vilakazi joined AmaZulu late last year from the KwaZulu-Natal Academy. On the other side, Mathew Haywood is also coaching in the Diski for the first time, having joined City in April 2021.
The website caught up with both coaches, and they revealed that they had been impressed with the quality of football displayed by the youngsters in the seven games they played.
They claimed that despite some of the teams not getting enough time to prepare for the competition, they still did not make things easy for their sides.
Both of the coaches are not new in the coaching circles. They have been working with some top Academies locally and abroad. Before joining Usuthu, Vilakazi was coaching the famous KwaZulu-Natal Academy, which has exported SA talent to overseas clubs.
The 39-year-old coach also coached a team called The Bafanas in his hometown Mtubatuba.
Vilakazi said: “My first stint as coach of these young boys in the Diski Rewired has been very challenging. Nevertheless, I am happy the boys have responded well. The main target, of course, is to see some of the players climbing the ranks into the first team.
He added: “The aim is to develop the players and instill a winning mentality in them. They need to know how to win games because when you are a coach you are judged based on the results not performance. Also when you are a development coach you’re judged on how many players you can progress into your first team.”
AmaZulu so far have four players -- Olwethu Mzimela, Sandile Khumalo, Lindokuhle Shange and Samkelo Mgwazela -- in the Diski team who are also part of the first team.
Haywood, who holds an Uefa A License, has vast experience working in the Academy systems as he worked with some United Kingdom Academies at Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. He has also been in Portugal, where he worked with Benfica.
Haywood is also confident that a couple of youngsters from the Diski team will be promoted into the first team next season.
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