Immediate former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi and his assistant Romain Folz were fired by the management in favour of Miguel Cardoso and his new team.
However, Steve Komphela and Kennedy Mweene – who have been serving as a senior first-team coach and goalkeepers' coach were retained.
Nevertheless, the former Esperance tactician came with his own staff to help him in meeting the set objectives at the club. Afrik-Foot understands the Portuguese has been asked to defend the Premier Soccer League and win the Nedbank Cup and the Caf Champions League as well.
With the quality and depth within his squad, the objectives are surely achievable. But who will help the new coach deliver?
Apart from Steve Komphela and former Zimbabwe international Kennedy Mweene, the 52-year-old will be working alongside Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo, and Joao Araujo as assistant coaches.
Cardoso's new technical team at Sundowns
“Fabio Fernandes is my first assistant coach, he’s a friend that developed some time ago when we made a decision to start working together, he has the spirit to follow me on my decisions, even when I was not working and wait for the right opportunity,” Cardoso stated.
“I believe people here will like his spirit, his attitude, he tries a lot and puts a lot of energy into matches and everything he does, he connects with people, always smiling, and very qualified in what he does. He has a large experience in Africa, two Afcon’s with Burkina Faso, and club experience in Africa, which was important when we arrived in Esperance.
“Pedro is someone who also works with me in everything, in tasks in training sessions, he is a multi-tasked person with a lot of experience working in youth teams at FC Porto where many coaches come from.
“He was on the moment of maturity to enter the highest level, so I took him with Esperance for that purpose, I had nine years in Porto, and someone gave me an opportunity to move to Fluminense, with a Portuguese coach and now I knew Pedro was on the level of maturity to have that step and he was important with us last year,” he added.
Coaches at Sundowns need to think the same – Cardoso
“Joao Araujo is someone for many years that was saying ‘Miguel, when, when when’ but the when was not happening at the same time, we could not join ourselves in the journey of football before but we shared a lot in the period where we were not working together,” the new Downs coach continued.
“He had experience with several teams with a few coaches in Portugal and he was working the last few years at the highest level, before joining me in Esperance, he was working in Braga, one of the best-organized clubs in Portugal.
“He was in the department of analysis, he’s a mind that reads the game, helps me to prepare the work in analysis, and helps for strategic preparation for matches. I’m open to working with all staff, but each of them will relate to the club in the different departments.
“It’s not just about the players but the coaches need to also think the same, that’s why I like sharing the democracy [of tasks] so everyone can give his best, it’s my objective,” Cardoso concluded.
The new team's first task will be on Sunday against Raja Casablanca in the Caf Champions League outing.
