By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Fadlu Davids is leading the race to take up the vacant coaching position at Maritzburg United after the club sacked John Maduka.
After parting ways with Orlando Pirates last season, Davids joined his former head coach Josef Zinnbauer in Russia.
But his stay in Russia was cut short after Zinnbauer was sacked by Lokomotiv Moscow.
Davids said he had no regrets despite the failed move: “If I sit back and reflect…had I got the call now knowing, I would still go. What I got from going there was invaluable. It was extremely the youngest squad in the league by far. We were taking steps in the right direction,” he reflected on his time at Lokomotiv, adding that his coaching credentials have truly open doors in Europe for his career.”
Maritzburg United chairman Farook Kadodia meanwhile has confirmed that the club has terminated Maduka’s three-year contract due to the team’s poor results in the Premier Soccer League.
“The contract has been terminated. The results speak for themselves and where we are on the log. We’ve been very patient; we even wanted to terminate earlier but decided to do it during the break,” Kadodia said,
“We couldn’t wait for more games; I think it’s not fair on the club and the brand to wait any longer. The pain would have been deeper. So, this decision was in the interest of the club and the brand.
“We have to look for a new coach, [the Fifa break] gives us time to sort that out. We are still screening interviews, I can’t tell you if Fadlu Davids or whoever is the coach. We are still doing interviews, we haven’t finalised that yet.”
MUFC can confirm that Head Coach John Maduka has left the club with immediate effect. The Club have also terminated the contracts of Maduka’s entire back room staff.
We would like to thank John and his technical team for their efforts and wish them well for the future. pic.twitter.com/5Z653YsxLY
— Maritzburg United FC (@MaritzburgUtd) November 3, 2022
Davids remains the only coach to have guided the Team of Choice to a major cup final in the PSL era – narrowly losing to Free State Stars in the 2018 Nedbank Cup final.
The team from the capital city of the KwaZulu-Natal province, Pietermaritzburg, are winless in their last six matches in the league having recorded four defeats and two draws.