SuperSport United winger Thuso Phala believes interim coach Kaitano Tembo deserves the chance to become Matsatsantsa’s head coach on a permanent basis. 

The 47-year-old took over the reigns after head coach Eric Tinkler’s departure, having already taken charge of the club during their Caf Confederation Cup first-round clash against Petro de Luanda on Friday.

Phala believes the interim coach has gained enough experience to take over as Matsatsantsa’s head coach role on a permanent basis.

‘Under the guidance of coach Stuart, I think he learnt a lot. He’s the head coach for now and you can see how he is trying to do things back to how we were doing them under coach Stuart, and we are used to that philosophy,’ Phala told KickOff.com.

‘Going forward, I think he is a very good candidate. I am just hoping that they give him a chance because he deserves it. He has been in the assistant coach role for long and I think just throw him in there and see how it goes.

‘He did well when coach Stuart was leaving, he took us all the way to the [Confederation Cup] final actually. He deserves a chance to grow personally as a coach and I think he would do well.’

Matsatsantsa currently the occupy 14th place in the Absa Premiership standings, having collected a total of 27 points from 24 games played so far this season.

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix