SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews has explained why Andre Arendse did not get the club’s head coach job during the off season, saying the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper doesn’t have “a requisite qualification to sit on the bench if we qualify for Africa”.
Arendse was shoe in to take over SuperSport, according to the sources, but he was let down because he doesn’t have CAF licences to sit on the bench in case SuperSport qualify for any CAF club competitions.
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Matthews said he was “number one” on the list after they sacked Kaitano Tembo in April.
With Arendse failing to meet the club’s requirement and the possibility of finishing within the top four, the club re-appointed Gavin Hunt instead.
Arendse was in charge of six matches as caretaker coach after Tembo was sacked towards the end of last season, beating Kaizer Chiefs in his first game in charge.
He couldn’t get wins against Marumo Gallants (0-0), Stellenbosch (0-0) and Swallows FC (2-2) and 3-1 loss against Baroka FC.
But he then signed off in style at the end of the season, beating Orlando Pirates 2-0 to see the Tshwane giants finish in the top eight.
“We did think about it. And actually Andre was the leading candidate to take the job and in the normal circumstances Andre would have taken the job, without hesitation,” Matthews told iDiski Times.
“I signed Andre when he was 39 years old. Imagine signing a 39 years old and he won the league with me.
“The truth is this, Andre is not qualified and he doesn’t have a requisite qualification to sit on the bench if we make it to CAF and how can we appoint a coach if we qualify for CAF can’t even coach the team because he can’t be registered?
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“So we are up-skilling him right now, he’s getting his CAF qualification. He always felt that he’s always been a goalie coach and now pushing him to be assistant and head coach, he said he could learn under Gavin Hunt.
“There are no issues at all – he worked with Gavin before and he knows he can learn a lot from someone who has won four league championships.
“He knows that his job is safe at SuperSport and it is not like other clubs where there is going to be politics, where an assistant coach is trying to get the head coach out, stuff like that.
“We are not there, we have a nice family orientated team. Everyone supports one another.
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“Everyone is there to learn and grow and Gavin is putting a lot of intellectual properties and energies into the coaches.”
The decision to go for Hunt, who won four trophies including three league titles with SuperSport in his first spell, seems to be paying off. SuperSport are third in the DStv Premiership table with 21 points after 12 matches.
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