Sello Sets High Hopes For New Coach Lafitte Alexandre
Marumo Gallants chairman Abram Sello has expressed high expectations for newly appointed coach Lafitte Alexandre, believing his impressive profile will lead to significant results for the club.
Alexandre joins Gallants, taking over from Abdeslam Ouaddou, who recently moved to Orlando Pirates as head coach.
At just 28 years old, Alexandre is currently the youngest head coach in the Betway Premiership. He is set to guide Gallants through the 2025/26 season, supported by a new wave of young talent signed to strengthen the squad.
When asked about his expectations for the new coach, Sello stated, “We’re very much impressed that they’ll do a good job. They are young.
“Firstly, we want young players who are still hungry for football, and we want to promote them to the level where God puts them. Not to say we don’t want those good qualities from Mamelodi Sundowns, we want them. At the end of the day, they are also looking up.
“So that is a challenge which we’re facing, and one of the questions said, yeah, we’re not financially well, and I said we commit what we can, where we can’t, we reserve our rights. So the young ones, we want to give them a transitional way forward to step up.
“We promoted so many players, many players during the 2023, 2024, almost 15 of our players went to the best teams in our league. I won’t mention names, there are many, and that’s our dream and wish, we promote our club, and promote the players as well.
“When we started in 2021, buying TTM, we had experienced players who knew what they were doing, but their morale was so low. We had to convert the transition of the whole process. And we were successful, and we won the Nedbank Cup. So we’re not in a situation where we confront you and once we shared the dream, it’s a dream and we move,” Sello said.
Sello further explained their process of getting coaches, highlighting the importance of an impressive profile and that a coach needs to align with their mission and vision, and not just because you’re from a specific country.
“Not necessarily French or Moroccan. I was looking at the profile and the intention to learn our mission and vision with the coach,” Sello explained.
“We interviewed some coaches and we realised which one goes with us. One, the growth of the club and the way he’s thirsty or hungry for success to develop himself, we’ll give him the platform, and also to develop our club, he gives us a chance as well.
“So that’s what makes us, it’s not about nationality or choosing specific areas or countries. The profile is very important, and the coach intends to align with our dream.”
