SA club clarifies Maduka’s position
South African Premier Soccer League outfit Bloemfontein Celtic have moved swiftly to set the record straight on their Malawian coach John Maduka’s position.
The club’s spokesperson Sello Nduna was quoted by soccerladuma.co.za as having said that the 49-year-old coach’s appointment was not on temporary basis.
He clarified that the former Flames captain is, in fact, a permanent coach.
“I want to rectify this; we promoted John to be the head coach of Bloemfontein Celtic, not on a caretaker basis.
“That is one thing I need to clear [up]. We have never mentioned the words ‘interim’ and ‘caretaker’ he is the head coach,” Nduna was quoted as having said.
He further clarified that it was a natural decision by the club to appoint Maduka as the head coach.
Said Nduna: “You would recall we did the same thing with Clinton Larsen when he was still Owen Da Gama’s assistant.
“When Owen left, we promoted Clinton, knowing that he understands the culture of the team, he has a relationship with the players and that is exactly what happened when [Lehlohonolo] Seema left. We felt we needed to give John the responsibility.”
Maduka guided Siwelele to a top eight finish in the PSL and also led the team to the final of the Nedbank Cup in which they lost 1-0 to treble winners Mamelodi Sundowns.
He was not available for comment, but after the Nedbank Cup final, he was quoted by kickoff.com as having said: “It has been a good season under difficult conditions, but we managed to finish in the top eight and got into the final.”
Celtic confirmed the appointment of Maduka as head coach in July following the resignation of Lehlohonolo Seema who took up the reins at Chippa United.
