MABHUTI Khenyeza, who is rumoured to have taken over the head coaching duties at Golden Arrows, has expressed that he is ready to lead the rebirth of the club’s culture ahead of the new season.
The 42-year-old mentor has seemingly returned to the hot seat of Abafana Bes’thende alongside assistant coach Musa Bilankulu following the shock departure of Steve Komphela for Mamelodi Sundowns in recent weeks.
Khenyeza led his side out against AmaZulu in the quarter-finals of the KZN Premier’s Cup and saw his men defeated and eliminated.
Speaking to the media after the game, the very often candid coach paid compliments to his side’s display despite their loss.
He then expressed his desire to see his group return to the “Arrows of old in terms of philosophy and mindset, as they displayed against Usuthu”.
“We are very happy about the team and the kind of football we displayed here (against AmaZulu), we don’t just kick the ball but we play football and we’re gonna play football this season,” he insisted.
“We don’t have ‘big’ players here who could challenge kicking the ball, we have youngsters here who will force even when the surface doesn’t allow it because that’s our culture as Golden Arrows and that’s our DNA.”
Khenyeza oversaw one of the worst losing streaks in the club’s history last season as they forfeited a top three spot and finished in ninth place on the standings.
His stint at the helm last season will be remembered for the 11-game losing streak that led to the club roping in the experience of Komphela.
A former Arrows player in his heydays as well, Khenyeza revealed that the club's failure to qualify for the upcoming MTN8 was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I think sometimes somewhere, it isn’t a nice feeling at all but there are situations that you can’t control so you just have to move on and soldier on and see what you can do to make sure what you can do to make the team better again.”
Arrows’ failure to qualify for the MTN8 means the club will only return to action on September 10, a period (considering it is still off-season) long enough to administer another pre-season schedule altogether, if need be.
However, Khenyeza expressed that he felt his side were close to being at the level he demands, with or without the time they’ll have at their disposal.
He also discussed the importance of having the likes of Edward Maova on board as a new signing.
“We just need to iron out a few things on our side, those who need to work more should do so but we’ve closed the gap because we’ve covered a lot of things with a lot of different approaches,”he said.
“We are also trying to bring competition into the team, he’s an experienced goalkeeper, an international goalkeeper as well and I think he’s gonna help us a lot.”