By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –
MTN-FAZ Super League side ‘Mighty’ Mufulira Wanderers have engaged experienced Portuguese coach Paulo Jorge Silva on a two year contract as head coach.
Wanderers secretary Goodwell Mateyo, who confirmed the development yesterday, said the club believes Silva has the right credentials to steer the team to glory.
Mateyo said the other members on the technical bench will remain unchanged as they will work as backroom staff for the new head coach.
Silva brings a vast of experience to the Mufulira giants who have struggled this season after head coach Manfred Chabinga quit on them.
“Mufulira Wanderers Football Club are pleased to announce the appointment of Paulo Jorge Silva as club head coach. The Portuguese has extensive experience in football management. The existing backroom staff at Mufulira Wanderers shall be retained as assistants to the new Head coach.
“The Club is confident that the head coach will be pivotal in ensuring the club meets its season’s aspirations,” Mateyo said.
Silva will take over from Chewe Mulenga who has been working in an acting capacity after Chabinga left.
Mateyo said the club has not yet given the coach specific targets for the season but will do so at the beginning of the next one.
He said the idea was to give the coach a performance based contract but they will have to wait until this season comes to a close.
The hiring of Silva will come as a sigh of relief for the Wanderers faithful after the club had earlier embarrassed itself by hiring an Egyptian coach Ahmed Suliman who did not have the right qualifications to head a Super Division side.
But Silva is a UEFA B licence holder who has coached top teams in Europe having worked with VfB Stuggart of Germany as well as Greuther Furth, Nuremberg, Aalen while in Portugal he worked with Cristiano Ronaldo’s former club Sporting Lisbon.
He has also got some experience working Africa having coached teams such as Hearts of Aok of Ghana, Esperance of Tunisia, COD of Nigeria and Dynamos of Zimbabwe which was his last job where he was sacked barely six months into his three year contract.
Silva has a huge task of steering Wanderers who are lying on 12 position just one point from the relegation zone with 18 points from 16 games.