'Better the devil you know than one you don't' - TS Galaxy's Sukazi on choosing Malesela over Da Gama

TS Galaxy boss Tim Sukazi has lifted the lid on why he opted to go for Dan Malesela as the new coach instead of retaining the services of Owen Da Gama. 

Da Gama was in charge of Highlands Park, who sold their PSL status to the Rockets, and Sukazi admitted the former Bafana Bafana interim mentor was in the running for the job. 

However, after careful consideration, a decision was made that they needed someone who understood TS Galaxy inside out, and that coach was none other Malesela. 

Another reason Sukazi gave was that there was going to be little time for Da Gama to get the players to understand what he expects from them and vice-versa, and therefore, TS Galaxy needed a coach who would hit the ground running.    

"When this situation arose, the choices were always going to be between Owen and maybe another coach for reasons that could be justifiable in our own right," Sukazi told the South African Football Journalist Association. 

"So, we looked at the situation and we said we have to combine two teams and we will be in a better place perhaps with a coach that understands the environment more than the coach who understands the assets that we are acquiring.

"We wouldn’t have the luxury between the time of that approval and the first game of the league."

"So, you need a coach who could hit the ground running and understand TS Galaxy because your success will be based on that.

"Then we decided that the devil we know is better than the devil we don’t know. So, we said Dan is the coach; we know he knows the club inside and out. That’s why we decided to go to him."

Malesela was at the helm when TS Galaxy lifted the Nedbank Cup at the expense of Kaizer Chiefs in May 2019 but he resigned after a series of unsatisfactory results the following season.

TS Galaxy then appointed Mabhuti Khenyeza as their head coach but he has since been tasked with coaching the club's MDC team ahead of the new season, with Ashley Makhanya assuming the role of assistant coach.