A three-year contract extension might have given Romain a Folz sense of job security.

 

Former AmaZulu head coach, now Technical Advisor, Romain Folz. Image: Twitter.

Just a week or two after AmaZulu FC Chairman, Sandile Zungu backed underperforming Romain Folz in the media, saying the coach was not going anywhere, it seems Zungu has had enough of the poor results, and decided to appoint Ayanda Dlamini as interim coach until the end of the season, with Folz assuming the role of technical advisor, not to the coach, it must be clarified, but technical advisor to the Chairman!

“The game is result driven and with six matches to go occupying 12th position, it is clear the performance is not fitting of a club like AmaZulu Football Club,” read part of AmaZulu’s official statement.

“The decision we have taken is to appoint Ayanda Dlamini as caretaker Coach until the end of the season. His mandate is to fight for the remaining 18 points that are on offer.

“Dlamini has the huge task to prepare the team for the upcoming match against Cape Town City this weekend.

“With Folz, there are many aspects that we want to continue with from him. I have retained him as a technical director, primarily to advise the President on the technical aspects of vision 2032 until the end of the season.”

Folz, who never really hit the ground running at Usuthu, vacates the coaching seat with the club sitting 12^th on the Dstv Premiership table with 28 points from 24 matches.

AmaZulu have won only two of their last 10 league games, a 4-0 win against Kaizer Chiefs, which was seen as a sign of rejuvenation for the Durban side, and a 2-0 victory over Chippa United. Other than that, Folz guided Usuthu to four losses and four draws.

Despite a good defensive record, with an average of 0.92 goals concede per match in the league, it is in attack that the club has struggled, they average 0.92 goals scored per match, which has seen them finding the back of the net only eleven times in their last 10 matches. The fact that AmaZulu have failed to score in 42% of their league games is a huge red flag, which comes from their inability to create good scoring opportunities, with an average xGF of 1.10 per match, according to FootyStats.Org.https://footystats.org/clubs/amazulu-fc-1279 

In a nutshell, nothing warranted keeping Folz as the head coach of the club, and it will be interesting to see how the players react to the coaching changes. With a positive response, Usuthu can find themselves inside the top eight come the end of the season.