Diadora FC coach Mangaliso “Shakes” Ntombana’s reputation is starting to precede him – and rightly so.
The 39-year-old successful and well-travelled mentor is one of the esteemed local coaches interviewed for the vacant head coach position with the defending ABC Motsepe League champion Young Bafana.
And contrary to the norm, the club reached out to him to find out of his availability.
Other names in the hat include seasoned campaigners such as Bizana Pondo’s Scara Matiwane as well as the former Bush Bucks player and ex coach of Amavarara FC, Mzunani Mgwigwi.
Oh! There was a fourth candidate with the name of Rowan Hendricks who according to his former chairman at Ikapa Sporting, Shaun Petersen, “mutually” parted ways with the club recently.
These four candidates will know their fate on Friday (8 December) when Young Bafana’s leadership will confirm their new head coach following the departure of Carlos Manuel.
The Strand-based club announced on Monday that they have parted ways with Manuel, the self-proclaimed ‘Black Mourinho,’ and are now searching for the perfect candidate – not only a successful one but one who also has drawing power with players.
And in Ntombana, Young Bafana’s owner Bernardo Steinado may just have found that perfect candidate. This is not to say that candidates such as Mgwigwi and Matiwane are fly-by-night coaches, it is just that Mangaliso knows the football landscape in Cape Town like the palm of his hand. Where he goes, players follow and that should give him the edge over the other three candidates.
This is exactly the type of value that Ntombana can bring to Bafana who are a mere shadow of themselves due to lack of experience and quality required for this league. Besides, his CV speaks for itself.
Just recently Ntombana has rewritten the amateur history books when he guided Diadora FC to an unprecedented treble – LFA League champions, Coke Cup champion and winning promotion to the Third Division.
Ntombana is also one of the elite coaches who managed to win the Coke Cup back-to-back. His successes in the past include the under 19 Bayhill Cup and the Kenpark under23 tournament. His knowledge and experience of the Second Division are vast after he worked with Zizwe United (2018), Glendene United and Grassy Park United amongst others.
Let’s hope sanity prevails and Young Bafana goes for the best-suited candidate in Ntombana – otherwise they could be back to square one in no time!
