Richards Bay coach Vusi Vilakazi admitted compromising his preferred style during the recent PSL promotion/relegation playoffs, prioritizing survival with limited time to implement his philosophy.

Vilakazi, whose current contract expires this month, expressed his desire to instill his own philosophy upon a contract extension. He emphasized the importance of pre-season training in achieving this.

Vilakazi successfully secured Bay’s DStv Premiership status with a dominant victory over Baroka. However, he acknowledged the limitations imposed by the short timeframe, forcing him to adopt a more pragmatic approach.

“The fact that I will have a pre-season with the team, the philosophy that I have, the identification that I want from this team to have, I will have time to work on that,” said Vilakazi. 

“I think these games, I must be honest, we were forced to play a certain way because of trying to survive, but this is not the football that I would prefer, it can be far better than what it is now. But getting the time in terms of pre-season, preparing the players and making sure that they buy into idea, I think it will make things even easier and we will play an interesting football.”

Vilakazi also highlighted his commitment to professional development, mentioning his ongoing CAF B License coaching course and the exam he took the day after securing Bay’s safety. 

“The course has had a huge impact in terms of upskilling ourselves,” said Vilakazi. 

“It is unfortunate that I was writing exams and I was focused on two things and that was very difficult I must say. But I will soldier on, I think I’m a smart person,” he concluded, drawing laughter from the media.