Isaacs, who was under the guidance of the legendary mentor while at the School of Excellence, is of the opinion that the South African Football Association (SAFA) could have utilised the knowledge of the former Al Ahly assistant coach.
According to Isaacs, Johnson’s appointment by Chiefs is a move in the right direction and that patience is needed.
“To be honest with you in terms of action and performance on the field, Chiefs are improving slowly. It’s just unfortunate there are those small but costly mistakes like the one against Sundowns. You cannot blame the coach for such mistakes. The goal came even before the coach could take his seat. They lost to Sundowns – a machine that has been built over seven to eight years. Chiefs is work in progress. They need to be patient with the coach. You can’t blame the coach for everything.
“But I want to talk about the appointment of coach Cavin Johnson. That’s the be best move by the team. He knows how to develop young players. I worked with him at the School of Excellence. I think it was for five years. From when I was 12 years old until around 17, 18 years old. He is the best. He learnt total football in Holland but also around 1996 he went to Brazil where he was with top coaches, including former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. I thought SAFA would hire him to help with the junior national teams which are struggling in major tournaments. But they didn’t. Now SAFA’s loss is Chiefs’ gain,” Isaacs said to the Siya crew.
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The former Ajax Cape Town defender added that Johnson has scouted and developed many top quality players in his illustrious career.
“At Sundowns, he changed things when he was the assistant coach. At Platinum Stars he took many unknown players and made a formidable team. He is the one responsible for Steven Pienaar, Brent Carelse, Thulani Serero, Thulani Hlatswhayo, Ninja Mofokeng, to mention but just a few. The good thing with him is that even if he works with the senior team he doesn’t interfere with the technical team’s work but will contribute positively towards its improvement. He is not a backstabber. He is a constructive coach who is very good in development as well as senior teams. Chiefs have made one of the best decisions, but it should not be a short-term solution. To build a team is not a one year or two year process. It needs time and they should give him that support and he will do his job,” Isaacs concluded.
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