‘He’s doing a great job’ – Augsburg coach praises ‘clever’ Mamelodi Sundowns Sporting Director

Published on by Joel Oliver, updated on

The Danish coach las lauded his compatriot for his work at the PSL champions

Augsburg coach Jess Thorup feels South Africa football is lucky to have a ‘clever’ guy like Mamelodi Sundowns Sporting Director Flemming Berg.

Berg joined Sundowns last September after working as Head of Elite Football Development at the Danish Football Association for seven years and has enjoyed a good relationship with the technical team until a reported falling out with former coach Rhulani Mokwena.

The Dane is the man in charge of recruitment at Sundonws and has been responsible for a number of overseas players who have joined the club with Brazilian Arthur de Oliveira Sales the latest.

Thorup has lauded his Danish compatriot for taking over a totally different role and excelling at it, something he feels will benefit South African football.

‘He is not only a great guy but he is very clever on football’

“He is not only a great guy but he is very clever on football, he is strong in developing players so I think it is a great opportunity for South Africa to have a guy like this and I as far as I see, he is doing a great job,” Thorup told SABC.

“I have followed him and every Danish coach and players playing all over in Europe and in the world. It is exciting to follow and Flemming is one of them and it is great that some guys choose to go to a different part of the world and see if you can do a different thing and Flemming is doing a great job.”

One man who is likely not to agree with Thorup’s assessment is Mokwena whose relationship with Berg had broken down before he was forced to quit Sundowns.

Berg was reportedly identifying and signing players without Mokwena’s input and the tactician also felt undermined when the Sporting Director started questioning some of the players brought to the club by the 37-year-old coach.

Wydad allowed Mokwena to choose a Sporting Director

Mokwena has since been appointed coach of Moroccan giants Wydad but that position was one of the key areas of negotiation as he later revealed the club allowed him to choose a Sporting Director of his own liking.

“It’s crazy, I don’t have a sporting director, I don’t have a technical director but whatever if we do get one, it will be because we sat down and I interviewed him. That responsibility has been given to us to be able to choose,” Mokwena told Game On, on Radio2000.

“(Roberto) De Zerbi did it at Olympique Marseille and worldwide, the truth of the matter is that worldwide, the sporting director works very closely in parallel with the coach or works under the coach. Sporting director is never about the coach,” he added.

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Joel Oliver

Joel Oliver is a seasoned multimedia sports journalist with a rich background in covering diverse football stories and events in South Africa and beyond.
His extensive coverage spans subjects touching on the PSL, with a focus on the Big Three (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs & Mamelodi Sundowns), Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.