Itchy-fingered Chippa boss Mpengesi explains ‘prodigal son’ Lentjies’ return

It looks like Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi, the chairman of Chippa United has found a cure for his itchy fingers and will not be pulling the trigger on Morgan Mammila anytime soon. 

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Instead of doing what he is now more known for – firing the coach – Mpengesi has decided to help Mammila by fortifying his technical team.

Mpengesi has brought prodigal son Kurt Lentjies back into the team as Mammila’s assistant, with a specific role for him.

“Lentjies is my child. In football we are forgiving people,” Chippa told the media in Durban on Sunday evening.

“We are forgiving people and for Lentjies this is home. The way we ended things at the beginning of the season was not nice.”

Mpengesi said he called Lentjies back to help Mammila with certain aspects, where he feels the Chippa mentor is lacking due to inexperience.

“We sat down and smoked the peace pipe and he is now back to bring much needed experience.

“The majority of the players in the team were recruited by him and he understands them better. We don’t want to look like we are a confused team.

“If you fire him and bring someone else in, you are starting the process all over again. So, I sat down with the board and we felt that Morgan lacks a bit of experience.

“We thought, let us not put pressure on him, and instead we need to support him. Morgan has been a good story for us.

“It would be a sad day if the team decided to fire him. We sat down and said, ‘no let us support him’.

“We spoke nicely with Kurt and here he is. He has his own role focusing on certain areas because the game is won on the bench now.

“The days when you would allow players to just play are gone now.”