Mandla Ncikazi has made a bold statement by saying that he has grown more as an assistant coach at Orlando Pirates than he had by being a head coach at other clubs.
Ncikazi was on media duty in place of head coach Jose Riveiro at a joint press conference in Durban ahead of the highly anticipated MTN8 final this Saturday.
The 55-year-old was asked about his duty as an assistant coach serving under the Spanish mentor, but the former Golden Arrows man's response was something that left the room startled.
"There were so many lessons learnt being an assistant coach to being a head coach," he told journalists.
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"How much I wish that our fellow colleagues can have the exposure that I've had of being part of the project of Orlando Pirates. Pirates are not like other teams and are unique in the way they do things. Maybe the beauty in everything is being part of that technical team where Jose is the head coach.
"Without exaggerating, I still have to meet a person who works that hard. He is a professional and I always wish our fellow South Africans can learn on how seriously they take their jobs. When you arrive at work at 6:00am, normally as coaches we work for two hours, but he only leaves at 3:00pm - and that becomes your daily routine.
"A lot of analysis, professionalism, space for other departments like conditioning and analysis to take part in the development of the club and the leadership and wisdom that is in the office.
"So, I've been a head coach before, but I think I've grown more as an assistant at Orlando Pirates than I did when I was a head coach in other clubs. So, I'm happy to be part of the project and I just hope that in my presence, the club, with the little contribution that one can make, becomes successful.
"This is not about us. It's a movement that brings happiness to the country, so I'm happy to be part of that project," he added.
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