Young Bafana (YB) owner Bernardo Steinado roped in a new Angolan coach in Carlos Manuel because he shares a similar “vision that aligns with the club”.
Manuel, a former youth development coach and second assistant with Cape Town Spurs’ ABC Motsepe team, comes with a wealth of experience, even though he might not be familiar to the broader football public.
Manuel replaces Ashraf Calvert who parted ways with the Strand outfit after winning the league last season.
Calvert however, fell short at the national playoffs in Pietermaritzburg but his name will forever be etched in the club’s history books for the maiden success he achieved with YB’s senior team.
Fortunately for Manuel, who has dubbed himself as the “Black Mourinho”, there are no serious objectives or demands to emulate Calvert’s feat – which means no real intense pressure.
But Manuel will surely want to vindicate his employer’s decision by bringing talented youth through the system – just as he did at Spurs.
“He is a coach that put emphasis on youth and their development and his work at Spurs speaks for itself,” Steinado explained.
“He is humble, soft spoken and very passionate. He’s been here (Cape Town) since he was seven years old. Carlos is also very familiar with the soccer landscape in Cape Town.
“I chose him because his vision aligns with that of the club. Look, there are no crazy expectations or demands of winning the league or anything…but we shall definitely compete and give it our best.
“Our aim is to attract more young talent, especially from the Helderberg region and hopefully send them off to Europe. We are recruiting as many players as possible and have boys from Mitchells Plain that get picked up and dropped off.
“Our aim is to make the club as diverse as we can, different cultures, races and religions. I need to emphasize that we do not just want to create soccer stars, but exemplary citizens as well,” Steinado concluded.
