Botswana giants Township Rollers, have set the record straight on Romain Folz after questions surrounding the coach's credentials.
Folz had been the head coach of Rollers last season before coming to Mzansi for the current campaign to coach Marumo Gallants.
Read: 'He Was A Video Analyst In Ghana'
Harris Chueu – the technical director at Gallants, told the Siya crew that Folz was a video analyst who ended up at the club because the chairman was scammed in Botswana.
Speaking to the Siya crew, Rollers CEO Bennett Mamelodi has set the record straight on the coach and disputed Chueu's allegations.
"We wish to respond to utterances directed to us concerning coach Romain Folz by the Marumo Gallants technical director. There is somewhere he says, 'somebody in Botswana took him and they tried him' and I would like to say it's not like we picked up Romain Folz from the street. He came very highly recommended from numerous sources including the French Federation. So, it's not like we had not done our homework when we hired him and that's the first part," said Mamelodi.
Read: Folz Responds To Chueu's Allegations
"He has impeccable credentials that should not be disputed, and that's the second thing. For us, he was a huge success. He found us in position five and he took us to position one at some point and then he ended up in position two in a season that had a lot of challenges, but he was able to keep the squad together and ensured that the results on the field of play were seen. He planned meticulously when he was here, and he was very accountable. He was very thorough and prompt and he was extremely professional. He did a lot of research and studied our opponents and he perfected the way that we played and I don't think that there is a single player in our current squad who played under Romain Folz who was not improved by him last season and that's the Romain Folz that we know," he said.
Read – TD Hits Back At Folz: 'He Was Taking Chances'
"We wanted him to stay. Unfortunately, an opportunity arose for him in the PSL, and more money and our president felt that we should not stand in his way because we couldn't match that offer but we would have loved him to stay. We feel that he is somebody who would have taken us to an extremely high level and not just locally but even on the continent and we have no doubt about that. Being a professional that he is, he does not want interference. He succeeded in Botswana because there was no interference. All he needs is the support. The moment you try and tell him how to do his work, he will never agree being a professional of his calibre. It's the same for any professional coach, and you can't tell Pitso Mosimane what to do and you can't tell Gavin Hunt what to do, so why should Romain Folz be different?" added the CEO.
Read: Exclusive! Folz Opens Up On Shock Marumo Decision
"During his time in Botswana, nobody sent him training sessions and he formulated his own and he demonstrated to me how he came about to be able to want to do certain things and what the end product was. The fact that he has qualifications to do analysis, for me, that is an advantage, and this guy has a UEFA Pro Licence. I watched him work and he is a consummate professional, very respectful, extremely hardworking and he transformed our club. We would have loved him to stay on to continue taking us to greater heights but unfortunately a better offer came for him. Any team that he ends up with will be extremely lucky to have a coach of that calibre and all that they will need to do would be to support him and they will reach greater heights," concluded Mamelodi.
Here's the long list of Chippa coaches in recent years:
