Bantu Coach James Madidilane
Mikia Kalati
VODACOM Premier League champions Bantu’s title winning coach James Madidilane and his assistant Bob Mafoso have penned fresh deals to keep them at the Mafeteng outfit for another two years.
Bantu president John Leuta confirmed the latest developments, telling this publication that retaining the duo would not come cheap.
“We are very happy to continue with the two coaches after they led the club to title success in the past season,” Leuta said.
“They were the best candidates for our long term project of transforming from amateur football to a professional side.
“We needed people of their qualities, expertise and young coaches dreaming of success in their profession.”
The Bantu boss said he was very proud of the duo’s achievement of bringing the league trophy in a year when the club also celebrated its 90th anniversary.
“They were under extreme pressure last season and I’m proud that they have big hearts and the pressure never got the better of them.
“Believe me, being part of this team comes with a lot of pressure but they were able to get the best of the players in just their first season.”
He said their mandate in the new season was to win two of the three trophies on offer, namely the league championship, the Independence Cup and the LNIG Top 8.
Leuta said it would also be good if the coaches would guide the team past the first round of the African Champions League.
While Leuta would not reveal how much the club would pay the coaches, he said it would cost them a lot of money.
“You have to understand that you cannot bring a coach from South Africa and pay him peanuts.
“What we are giving them cannot be compared to our previous coaches because one of them comes from outside the country and has done well since joining the team.
“What they wanted is slightly above what we had in mind and that means that we have to work harder to attract more sponsors.”
This publication has been reliably informed that Madidilane is the highest paid coach in the country along with Kick4Life’s Leslie Notši.
