Kaizer Chiefs: The ties that bind Zwane and Sheppard

Kaizer Chiefs coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard share a close relationship born out of a shared passion for football.

Sheppard has detailed the synergy between the two and gone on to say that both share a desire to see grassroots football in South Africa flourish.

Kaizer Chiefs coaches are tight

“There’s a huge synergy between coach Arthur and myself. We are very, very close. We spend 12 hours every day when we are with the first team, we get to the academy, we are involved in the process with the kids at school, we are involved in the process of their training,” Sheppard said as quoted by the Sowetan.

“We always talk about development and grassroots. I was in a project that brought up players such as Steven Pienaar and all these players. That’s where our passion is and that’s where synergy comes from.

“We share the philosophy and that’s why maybe we are closely aligned because we spend a lot of time discussing football. We are very close and that’s even before we talk about the football side.”

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Sheppard added that the trust they share might also benefit from the fact that they feel like peers rather than a boss and his assistant.

“We have trust, which is important. You’ve got to have trust that when he leads the process, he allows me to step in, the other people to step in from the technical team to take control,” Sheppard said.

“Sometimes it’s very tough on senior coaches who have had the reins over the years. They like to control quite a lot. Maybe that’s also a little different between young and old coaches, I’m not sure.”

Zwane and Sheppard have the trust of the board and the majority of players as well but the biggest battle will be keeping the fans onside with expectations always high for Kaizer Chiefs.