Gavin Hunt’s mandate at Chippa United revealed

Phakaaathi has been led to believe that Gavin Hunt has been given a mandate to challenge for a spot in the top six of the DStv Premiership by club owner Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi.

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Hunt was given the opportunity to sign the players he wanted and having taken Chippa United through pre-season, the chairman, as the Mgosi squad understands, wants him to deliver.

“Most of the time the chairman is involved in the signing of players but this time he washed his hands and let Gavin do as he pleases, although there was a cap on the amount of money spent in the transfer window. The chairman does not expect to see his team lingering in the relegation zone this season,” said the source.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, Mpengesi is a changed man. The club owner has, over the years, built a bad reputation of lacking patience with coaches. But he has decided to do things differently this season.

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This is why he has given Hunt the leeway to do things the same way he did at SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits where he was the most successful as a coach.

“A coach like Gavin needs to be given space so that he can do his job properly,” Mpengesi said, as quoted by InkSport.co.za.

“The first thing he did was to get rid of players whose contracts had expired. He made it clear that he was not going to renew their contracts. In the past we signed players for coaches, we didn’t do that this time around.

“We gave Gavin a chance to choose the players he wanted in the team. He released players like Andile Mbenyane, Frederic Nsabiyumva, and Ayabulela Konqobe. We would have retained the players if it was up to us as management, but it’s Gavin’s choice.

“We are not coaches and cannot argue with him. It’s painful to let go of a player like Mbenyane, who’s been with us for many years. But Gavin made it clear that he’s got nothing personal against the players he released.”