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â€˜PROFESSORâ€™ CLASHES WITH HIGHLANDERS MC!

By Sibongiseni Zondi | 2018-07-20

SOCCER - THE relationship between Mbabane Highlanders coach Mlungisi 'Professor' Ngubane and the club's Management Committee (MC) headed by CEO Celucolo ‘Dino’ Dlamini has turned sour.

Ngubane joined Highlanders in November after the departure of Alou Badara. The South African football legend steered Highlanders to the semi-finals of the SwaziBank Cup and a fifth place finish in the MTN Premier League.

After signing nine players from Matsapha United recently, it was expected that Highlanders would mount a strong challenge across all fronts in the coming season but that is now being threatened by the bad blood between Ngubane and the MC. Interviewed yesterday, the coach said he had kept quiet for a long time about the issue.

"I am not fighting anyone but people are fighting me because they think I'm stubborn. I'm not stubborn but I don't want to be told what to do because when the team loses, I'm the one accountable for that. I don't understand why people are fighting me because I'm only trying to assist the team win. We got results last season because no one was telling me what to do. I don’t have any problems with the Directors (Marwick) Khumalo and (Zweli) Jele but it’s some people in the MC. They want me to report everything that I do to them," Ngubane said.

Ngubane then added that while he didn't want the issue to be projected as one between him and 'Dino,' he had been left unimpressed by some of the CEO’s decisions.

"Recently, the CEO reported about something that he was not supposed to in the media in as far as our friendly matches in South Africa are concerned.

Our objectives in SA were never to win but to get our combinations right. I've been quiet but he (‘Dino’) is busy talking. I was not happy when he went to the radio (SBIS Sports show) to talk about the team but he doesn't come to training. I told him to call me before he goes on radio but he doesn't listen," he added. Ngubane then threatened to resign if the issues were not resolved.

"Highlanders were losing when I came here. I changed the strategy. Where were these people, who claim to know when the club was losing? Remember, I played football. I've been coaching since 1990. I've coached in Namibia, Botswana and SA and won some cups. But some of the MC members are trying to turn the supporters against me because they can see the supporters love me.

They have serious problems with me yet I am trying. I will simply resign if this goes on," he concluded.

contacted

Also contacted, CEO 'Dino' confirmed that relations between the coach and MC were strained. "It's true there are challenges between the coach and the MC and we have already reported this to the Chairman (Jele). The sad thing is that the MC is not interfering on any technical matters, so we don't understand what the coach's problem is. I have personally tried to contact the coach so we can talk but he didn't pick my calls.

The truth is that as the MC we lost twice in 13 games last season and we attribute that success to the entire Highlanders family. We just hope this issue will be resolved soon and we will all focus on our duties next season," Dlamini said.

‘Dino’ said the coach was not happy with the decision taken by the MC that he should only focus on technical issues in the team. Efforts to get a comment from Chairman Zweli Jele were unsuccessful as he was locked in a meeting for the better part of yesterday afternoon. Highlanders will begin their season when they partake in the Eswatini Telecom Charity Cup on August 5 at Somhlolo National Stadium.

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