ZAMBIANS woke up to the news of Zeddy Saileti being appointed Nkana head coach replacing Aggrey Chiyangi who has been ‘elevated’ to the position of technical director.
Chiyangi’s head has been on the chopping board for a long time and the axe has finally fallen on the soft-spoken gaffer who has been at the helm of the 12-time champions since 2015 when he took over from Beston Chambishi.
Given the pressure that comes with being a Nkana coach, Chiyangi has been on the microscope since he arrived in Wusakile, it was a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ he will ever be excused from his position as head coach.
His first season in charge, he guided Nkana an eighth place finish after taking over mid-way from sacked Chambeshi.
Last year, Nkana endured a bitter-sweet season, at some point they were run away leaders, but a serious of draws and a couple of losses saw the settle for third.
Out of 34 league games, his team recorded 21 games, lost seven and drew six scoring 57 goals and conceding 30 in process.
Chiyangi’s only hope for silverware was in the Barclays Cup but he was outclassed by Mumamba Numba’s Zanaco side in a 4-nil semi-final bashing at Arthur Davis Stadium.
Nkana’s only consolation last season will be that they finished above bitter rivals Power Dynamos, it is at the back of this run that Chiyangi’s fate would be determined.
This year Chiyangi was expected to mount a serious title challenge, but it wasn’t meant to be, Kabila has succumbed mounting pressure from Nkana Fans to pull the trigger on Aggrey.
With Chiyangi seemingly out of the picture, the Nkana technical bench now looks like this, Zeddy Saileti [head coach], Gift Kampamba [first assistant], Billy Mwanza [second assistant] and Kennedy Kalale [goalkeeper trainer].
According to club president Everisto Kabila, the changes have been made to as “part of the process of repositioning the club towards achieving better team performance in 2017 and beyond.”
Saileti has is work cut out, he has been at Nkana long enough to know the expectations of the country’s most passionate fans as to whether he is the right man to grant Nkana the much sought after 13th league title only time will tell.
As for Chiyangi it remains to be seen of what value his new advisory role will be to the highly ambitious Nkana football club, his role undoubtedly come a relief to him as he is no longer in the limelight.
