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| Sports |
| Mtawali linked to Sundowns again |
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by
Garry Chirwa, 10 January 2007
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06:38:59
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Former Flames midfield star Ernest ‘Wire’ Mtawali is once again being seriously considered for a post of assistant coach at defending South African Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Sundown’s coach Gordon Igesund told the club’s website this week that Mtawali is one of the upcoming coaches he is seriously considering for the job following the resignation of Farouk Khan.
“Last time Ernest was also on my list but I opted for Farouk because he had an edge experience-wise. At the moment I have appointed Cavin Johnson as my assistant on an interim basis.
“But we are still debating on who will take the post on a permanent basis. Johnson has an impeccable track record in developing youngsters. However, Ernest also stands a chance because he has also proven to be a promising coach. He also has an impressive record as a player and his past relationship with the club cannot be overlooked,” said Igesund.
The former midfielder confirmed in a telephone interview from Johannesburg he is indeed waiting in the wings.
“Johnson has the job now, though on a temporary basis but I am keeping my fingers crossed that I should be considered as well,” said the dread-locked former star.
Mtawali’s coaching career started at Bloemfontein Celtic about three years ago where he nearly guided the team to promotion into the top-flight league from the second-tier Mvela Golden League but the team missed promotion by a whisker finishing second on the log.
He also had a stint with PJ Stars where he was co-coach with Bafana Bafana’s celebrated former hitman Phil ‘Chippa’ Masinga but the duo performed poorly and was given the boot last year.
Last year Mtawali was also linked to the Flames assistant coach job.
Mtawali also had a distinguished 23-year playing career that took him to France where he starred for top league side Toulouse. He also spent a season in Argentina at Newell’s Old Boys where he played against such big names like Diego Maradona. Mtawali also played in the Italian Lower division for a club called Bassano and in Saudi Arabia for Al-Wahda.
In South Africa, where he spent a greater part of his career, Mtawali played for a number of teams including Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Jomo Cosmos, Celtic and Supersport United. He became the first foreigner to win that country’s player-of-the-year award in 1985.
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