Fadlu Davids returns to help Maritzburg United stave off relegation

Maritzburg United have gone with a familiar face and hired Fadlu Davids as their new head coach after firing John Maduka last week. 

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Maduka had been at the helm at Maritzburg United for just over four months when he got the axe following a string of unsatisfactory results. 

The team was also not playing the way that the club’s management would have wanted hence Maduka was shown the door just four months after joining from Royal AM. 

The Blue Hearts confirmed in a statement on Monday afternoon that Davids has been handed the task of pulling the team off the relegation zone. 

“Davids re-joins the Team of Choice for his second stint at the helm,” reads the statement from the Maritzburg PR team.  

“The club have moved swiftly to allow Davids an extended period in which he can work with the squad during the World Cup break.”

Davids expressed his excitement at being in familiar territory as the club is where he spent most of his playing career before graduating to the technical team. 

He had been the head coach previously before he was fired and he went on to join Orlando Pirates as an assistant coach. 

He opted not to renew when his deal ended in June and joined former Pirates boss Josef Zinnbauer at Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia a few months ago as an assistant.

Their stay was however short lived with Zinnbauer shown the door after a series of poor results at the Russian giants. 

“I am really excited to be back here and having been here as a player, assistant coach and head coach, I understand the club quite well. 

“This will make it easy for my technical team and players to hit the ground running,” said Davids on his return to Maritzburg. 

The club’s chairman Farook Kadodia said: “Fadlu is one of the youngest, brightest coaches in the game and we are pleased to have been able to bring him back to the club.

“We have achieved success together previously and had some memorable moments and whilst the short term objective is to get the team out of our current position.

“We look forward to creating and producing the brand of football which we as a club aspire to.”