I never undermined Orlando Pirates head coaches, says Chippa United's Teboho Moloi

Chippa United coach Teboho Moloi says he never undermined the head coach during his time as assistant coach at Orlando Pirates.

The retired midfielder served as an assistant coach between 2011 and 2015 under Julio Leal, Augusto Palacios, Roger De Sa, Vladimir Vermezovic as well as Eric Tinkler.

During his tenure, there had been regular speculation in the media that as an insider he had more influence and power than his position warranted.

“When I was an assistant I always used to see myself as a coach because I’d also bark instructions, and it would be seen as I’m saying something different to the coach, but I still maintain that I grew up in that [Pirates] team," Moloi said on The Citizen.

“When you grew up in your house, how can you stand up from having lunch and go to the corner and piss there, instead of using the bathroom?”

“I would never give an instruction that was against what the coach wanted or that was not beneficial for Pirates to win at that time,” he explained.

The former Pirates fan-favourite went on to admit that he is “the most difficult person to deal with, especially when it came to Orlando Pirates because I grew up there, I understand the culture and everything.”

Moloi intially joined Chippa last season as assistant to Dan Malesela. However, he took over the head coach role after Malesela departed last September.

Moloi says that the challenges he faces now as the main man at Chippa were never part of his job at Pirates.

“I knew that whatever I was doing then was in the best interest of the team, so I don’t know now [at Chippa] whether it’s different from there or not," he continued.

“The only thing I can tell is you different is that I have to be in the office now, like I was asked [by the media], ‘Coach, how many players do you think you’re going to reinforce?’

“I never used to make those decisions – the financial decisions, travelling, replacements and all that – and now I have to put my head on the block," he concluded.

Moloi was on a 10-match unbeaten run in the league with the Chilli Boys before Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Ajax Cape Town.

The former South Africa international was named as the league’s Coach of the Month for November on Monday.