Chippa United Q+A: Kwanele Kopo

New Chippa United coach Kwanele Kopo shared the portfolio towards the end of last season with Thabo September but has now been appointed as solo coach for the upcoming Betway Premiership season.

The 48-year-old Kopo is no newcomer to the local game, having served as an assistant coach at SuperSport United and also worked extensively at youth level, as ewell as more recently in the National First Division.

He spoke exclusively to SuperSport.com on Friday:

On the late start for the new league season benefitting Chippa

“It suits us a little bit better in terms of our preparations because we've had a lot of changes in our squad. And we didn't really have the best start to our preseason. So, a prolonged period allows us to integrate these new players. Also, we haven't really had competitive games being the only team in Port Elizabeth. So, we'll only be going to Gauteng after next week. That will give us an opportunity to measure metrics like our competitiveness and the readiness of the new players into the team.”

On the revamp of the Chippa squad for the new season

“When the club issued the list of players being released from the club, there were 16 of them and two players that were returning to their clubs (after loan deals). But to be honest, out of those 16, probably eight were not first team squad players. But they were players who had contracts with the club, and those contracts that come to an end, and we were not renewing. Some of them were players we didn't even deal with in the senior team. Of the other guys, they were around 33-34 years old. We felt we needed to revamp the squad from a youthful perspective, because we want a team that we can build over a three-year period, which meant we needed to bring in younger players. The way we want to play dictates this, we want to play a game that has a lot of speed, both in possession and out of possession, which requires energy and speed. So, we felt the average age of the squad was quite high. There were advantages in terms of experience, but disadvantages in terms of intensity and mobility. And that's what we want to bring into the team – a team has got a bit more intensity. The modern game is about speed. So not just running speed, but also actual speed. So, we wanted to create a balance between the two.”

On the new signings

“Yeah, we've got a few exciting young signings. We've brought back Aphelele Teto from Scotland on loan. He was not able to play there due to work permit restrictions. But I think when he's made his PSL debut at TS Galaxy everybody saw the potential that the young boy has. We brought some youngsters from the NFD, from Pretoria Callies Xolani Sithole Giovanni Philander who played for FN Rangers in the ABC Motsepe playoffs. Giovanni fell into from Cape Town Yes. There's a couple of youngsters from the DDC team that towards the end of last season we gave an opportunity to the first team. We’ve permanently bought Malebogo Modise, who was previously on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns, because he did well in that second half of last season. The deal that saw Kayden Francis go to Cape Town City came with a swap of Roland Sanou, who for the last six months played at Moroka Swallows. He has good capacity, a box-to-box midfielder. I think in that perspective, we've made some good signings, but only time will tell if they can really make the step up. But in training, there's some positive signs. Stanley Nwabali is still with us. We are hopeful with the young stars standing Nadal is still with us. The area that we were looking to reinforce a lot was on the left wing because we felt last season we didn't have the balance that we want. We want to be a team that presses higher up on the field. We want to be a team that is strong on the counter attack. All these things require capacity and legs and speed in the team and therefore, to have a team of only older players, we felt that physically it limited us and we saw it towards the end of last season that a couple of players couldn't keep up with the intensity that we wanted to play at. Andile Jali joins us as well and being from the Eastern Cape he is going to be a big crowd puller. The people of Eastern Cape need to have hope that there is a pathway for their kids to play in the club. Andile has achieved everything almost everything that there is to achieve in football. His personality and quality is going to be vital for the squad.”

On his first head coach appointment

“It's a very exciting opportunity to once again work in the in the Premier League. And obviously now to be leading the technical staff, as a head coach in the Premier League. I think that everybody who's been in my shoes, who's been in the different levels of the game, worked with the coaches that I’ve worked with, this opportunity is a platform to really show qualities that we have as young coaches in terms of exposure. I was one of Pitso Mosimane’s assistants at SuperSport in 2004. I've worked as an assistant coach under Cavin Johnson, Stuart Baxter and obviously I've worked closely with Kevin Hunter, especially also during his time in Super Sport. I've been privileged to be among the highly qualified coaches in South Africa with SAFA pro license and the CAF A license. And I think that extensive knowledge in youth football is important in this era of football. If you look at all the big clubs globally, there is a change, or a bigger interest, in coaches with a youth background. That is also driven by the economy in the game, because the constant practice of buying players has become too expensive to sustain. And therefore, it is important for clubs to have coaches that are able to groom youngsters, that can take the teaching element of football and take it to the professional level, because a lot of our professional players have not gone through the proper development structures.”

On goals and ambitions

“It's a very, very tough task. I don't want to lie because of the nature of the club and where it has been operating for the last couple of seasons in that Chippa United has always been this team that is constantly fighting relegation. So, to change the face and the vision of such a club is not easy, because you don't necessarily have the financial muscle of the other clubs. So, I think the first objective is to try and create stability, and turn Chippa into a regular a top 10, top eight finishers in the PSL. Because once we achieve that, then the second objective of being a grooming Club and the selling club will happen much more efficiently in a stable club, in a club that is not constantly looking over its shoulder about relegation. We have a very difficult task on our shoulders, we must achieve results to keep the team comfortable as early as possible, and then we have to integrate these youngsters and make them attractive and marketable in the market or make them strong enough to carry Chippa to become a more competitive team in the league.”