Responsibility vital in one’s quest to be a coach: Tembo

Many people are under the impression that the transition from from a football player to a coach in the game is smooth and automatic.

The deep-rooted assumption is that one just needs to have knowledge of the game as a player to usher-in a successful career on the bench as a coach.

That hasn’t been the case though, with many football superstars either failing to become coaches or eventually becoming managers but have little success.

For Kaitano Tembo, the first Zimbabwean coach to win a title in the South African top flight when he clinched the 2019 MTN 8 with his beloved SuperSport United, there is more to becoming a coach than many understand.

Speaking on the latest episode of the club’s Matsatsantsa Show, Tembo, who has been with Pretoria-based oufit for 21 years as a player, assistant coach and then head coach, provided an insight as to why discipline is of paramount importance in that transition.

”What is important is that as a player, you have to be disciplined, that’s very key. For me, I knew I wanted to make a career in football, from playing to coaching and I knew that for me to achieve that, I had to be disciplined,” he said.

“You can then realize after retirement that you want to be a coach but then people will look back at your career as a player, if you were not disciplined and came to training late, how then can you be trusted with young players, what example will you set or teach them,” added the former Warriors defender.

“So that is the mistake some footballers make when it comes to planning. Planning is knowing that you will not play football forever so what you do today as a player affects you tomorrow,” he added.

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