AmaZulu’s newly appointed coaching duo of Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi say they are ready to shoulder the responsibility of restoring the glory days at Usuthu, with the club currently languishing at the bottom of the table with zero points. 

The pair was roped in to succeed Spanish mentor Pablo Franco Martin at the helm, beating several seasoned Premier Soccer League coaches Ernst Middendorp and Clinton Larsen, among others linked with the job. 

Zwane, who brings a wealth of experience from Kaizer Chiefs’ senior team and youth development structures, has expressed his confidence and optimism about changing the fortunes of a club that has lost all of their opening three matches of the Betway Premiership. 

“It’s about the club at the end of the day, so yes, I’ve moved on and I’m also expected to do well for myself and luckily I’m blessed to have this gentleman [Vusi Vilakazi] next to me, ” Zwane told Robert Marawa on MSW. 

“It happened for a reason, and we are looking forward to a better season ourselves, also to change and turn things around here at AmaZulu and compete to be one of the best teams in the country. 

“When you look at the quality of the players that are there, yes maybe at some point you’d have to beef up but the first thing you have to do when you arrive at a new place as a coach, you’ve got to look at the situation first – why we haven’t been scoring goals, why we’ve been conceding, before you can even look at the players,” He added: 

“Then as soon as you identify the problem, that’s when you can go to the president and management of the team that we need to beef up come January. We will be discussing that as well, so we are happy with what we have for now.”  

Meanwhile, ‘Kanu’ as Vilakazi is affectionately known, shares the same sentiments as the Chiefs legend, promising that they are determined to elevate the team to greater heights as they are eager to prove a point to doubters. 

“We promise to do our best in terms of making sure that we take this team to greater heights. It’s not going to be easy as people are saying, others doubt if this [co-coaching] will work, but we are sure that this will work, that’s one thing for sure, ” Vilakazi said. 

“Maybe I’m saying that because I’ve been in a situation where there’s 15 games left, and you need to perform miracles. What we said to the players is that there’s no train smash here, obviously, the change happened because of what happened last season, before the new season. 

“So, we know very well what is expected from us but being motivated as well by the people who are supportive of this will do wonders, also those not supporting will drive us forward in terms of making sure that we are encouraged in what we are doing, and we need to prove a point to people.”

Usuthu will host Stellenbosch FC in their round of 16 clash of the Carling Knockout on Friday, before travelling to recently crowned three-peat MTN8 champions Orlando Pirates for a Betway Premiership encounter on 25 October.