AmaZulu FC chairman Sandile Zungu has opened up on the reasons for former coach Benni McCarthy's dismissal back in 2022 and whether he regrets it or not after the Bafana Bafana legend was hired by Manchester United.
McCarthy enjoyed a superb start in charge of Usuthu midway through the 2020/21 season, as he led them to a second-placed finish in the DStv Premiership and qualified them for the CAF Champions League for the first time in their history.
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However, following participation in Africa's premier club tournament, the KwaZulu-Natal side struggled for form and despite a commendable debut campaign in the CAF Champions League, where the South Africa legend got them to the group stages, Usuthu were not getting results in the domestic league and eventually they parted ways with McCarthy in March 2022.
Zungu has stated that after it was clear that they would not achieve their objective of finishing in the top four, he asked assurances from McCarthy on finishing in the top eight and suggested that the former Cape Town City coach was non-committal, hence he decided to let him go.
"To hire him was a great decision especially in his first season. The second season...when we had discussions about what we were going to do about the final quarter," Zungu explained on 947's MSW.
"I had given up on qualifying for a top four position which was what we had committed ourselves to. I said 'Can you give me the commitment that we'll get into the top eight?' (Benni didnot commit) and I said, 'No, I'm not going to go forward without a commitment' and when that commitment was not forthcoming I knew exactly what to do, to make changes that would guarantee me a top eight finish," Zungu said.
The AmaZulu supremo continued and justified McCarthy's dismissal as a good decision because his replacement, Brandon Truter achieved a top eight finish and led them to the MTN8 final the following season for the first time in nearly 50 years.
"And I think employing Brandon Truter at the time was a great intervention and he secured us a top seven finish and it's now common cause that we played in our first final of a top eight format in more than 50 years or almost 50 years," Zungu said.
"So, if you ask me, under the circumstance, would I take the same decision? Absolutely. It takes nothing away from Benni as a personality, great South African, he remains an icon.
"He remains a legend. He's someone I marvel at. He's someone I dearly love but the results were not forthcoming for Usuthu in his second season and I had to take the right decision. I'm not scared to take decisions," he added.
Four months after parting ways with Usuthu, McCarthy got the biggest coaching opportunity of his career after he was roped in as a striker coach at Manchester United.
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