Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates? Benni McCarthy may have options

The South African football scene was rocked on Friday by the shock axing of Benni McCarthy as AmaZulu coach.

READ | KAIZER CHIEFS: THREE PLAYERS ON THEIR WAY OUT OF NATURENA

The news of McCarthy’s sacking came out of the blue, despite Usuthu’s ‘struggles’ in the 2021/22 season.

Have AmaZulu really ‘struggled’ or was McCarthy a victim of his own success after the results of his first season in charge?

READ | GAVIN HUNT AND ORLANDO PIRATES TO DAWN IN A NEW ERA

It’s staggering how club owners quickly forget how coaches dig their sides out of holes only to pull the trigger and fire them when things aren’t as rosy.

Listen HERE to how AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu attempted to justify sacking McCarthy and make your own mind up.

READ | WHY PITSO MOSIMANE WAS SLAPPED WITH R8 MILLION FINE FROM SUNDOWNS

Benni McCarthy arrived at AmaZulu when the KwaZulu-Natal side were in the depths of despair down in 13th place in the standings, just above the relegation zone.

He weaved his magic and Usuthu finished second in the 2020/21 DStv Premiership – something FAR bigger sides have failed to do in several seasons (if not ever).

They qualified for their first ever CAF Champions League and at the time of publishing are still in with a mathematical chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

AmaZulu are currently 9th in the log

A look at the current DStv Premiership log shows that AmaZulu are in ninth place with 29 points after 23 matches.

While they have only won five league matches this season, they have only lost four games – the joint-second fewest in the entire league!

Does whoever takes over as coach really have a better shot at finishing the season in the top half of the table and thus qualifying for the MTN8 with just seven matches to play, than McCarthy?

Time will tell.

READ | BONGANI ZUNGU MAKES STATEMENT THAT WILL WORRY AMAKHOSI

So what next for Benni McCarthy?

Still only 44, the former Bafana Bafana star striker has time to contemplate his next move.

But he may well not have to wait too long with reports both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates (in particular) may be looking at coaching changes come the end of the season (or sooner).

McCarthy played 39 matches – and scored 13 goals – for the Buccaneers. He may well be a popular choice as a replacement for the current co-coaches at the club, Fadlu Davids and Mandla Ncikazi.

Whether McCarthy is experienced enough to replace Stuart Baxter at Naturena remains to be seen.

My personal feeling is NO.

In addition, there’s no doubting there will be other opportunities at other PSL clubs in the coming months which may interest Benni McCarthy.

READ | KAIZER CHIEFS ARE DOING ARTHUR ZWANE WRONG, SAYS CAVIN JOHNSON