Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs forward Kenny Niemach has opened up about his strained relationship with Paul Dolezar.
Dolezar benched Niemach when he became the Sundowns coach in July 1999. At the time, Niemach was one of the most in-form forwards in the country and a prolific goalscorer at Masandawana.
Kenny Niemach on Why He Wasn’t Paul Dolezar’s ‘Cup of Tea’
Niemach revealed that he wasn’t the only player unhappy with Dolezar’s coaching style, accusing him of wanting to “change too many things”. On his fall-out with the Serbian football manager, he said:
“I wouldn’t say it was a personal attack on me. I just think I wasn’t his flavour. I wasn’t his cup of tea ’cause I was outspoken. I wasn’t the type of person who’s gonna sit back and let you come and run over me. So, if I disagreed with you, I’ll tell you I disagree.”
Speaking to Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide, Niemach said his relationship with Dolezar became sour after he challenged some of his tactics and decisions.
“He didn’t like a player to tell him what he thought. And that for me, I think it doesn’t work.”
The legendary goal machine revealed that Dolezar wasn’t the only coach he challenged, naming Ted Dumitru and Clemens Westerhof in particular.
“I wanted to understand, ‘why are you telling me this’? Make me understand it. But if you can’t make me understand it, that means you are not quite sure what you’re doing.”
Was Dolezar a Good Coach at Sundowns?
On whether Dolezar was a good coach, Niemach wasn’t straightforward. Instead of rating him, he revealed Dolezar demanded a lot in terms of the players’ physicality.
“That’s up for debate. Some players would assume he is. Some players’ careers were shortened simply because of the way he managed you physically.”
He accused Dolezar of “screaming and shouting” rather than finding solutions when the team was underperforming.
“A lot of players were afraid to speak, and I’ll tell you now, they probably shared my sentiments as well. I felt as if he couldn’t come up on the board and say, ‘this is what we’re doing, and we should be doing it like this’. Not screaming and shouting, how does it help us?”
Dolezar ‘Lucky’ to Coach Sundowns – Niemach
Niemach took another jab at Dolezar, claiming “he was lucky” to inherit a team that already had quality players and a working system.
“For Sundowns, I don’t think he had the gravitas. I don’t think he had the know-how to take that team to another level. He didn’t do that. It was already there. It was already formed over years.”
According to Niemach, Dolezar tried to change Sundowns’ trademark possession football. He wanted them to abandon their “very calm disposition” approach and play an aggressive, physical game instead, claimed Niemach.
The former TV personality also criticised Dolezar for demanding players to be physically fit, which, according to him, was not Sundowns’ style.
“This team wants to play football. They want to keep the ball for 45, 50 passes. No other team at the time did it, but this is what Sundowns was about. He wanted the ball quickly forward, quickly crossed. It didn’t work. You didn’t have that type of personnel. It just didn’t work. It didn’t work for me, it didn’t work for anybody else.”
Niemach ‘Stuck’ Under Dolezar
Niemach said he “felt stuck” under Dolezar’s guidance at Downs and immediately left the club when the opportunity came.
He joined the now-defunct Moroka Swallows under the leadership of CEO Leon Prins. Niemach told Marawa that Swallows needed to win 11 out of 12 games when Prins approached him.
“So, lucky for me, I scored in 11 of them.”
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Dolezar Wins the Rothmans Cup with Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs
Dolezar won the Rothmans Cup with the Brazilians in 1999 and the 1999/2000 Castle League title. He then abruptly left in April 2001 after accusing match officials of favouring Chiefs in the BobSave Super Bowl final after Sundowns lost.
At Chiefs, he won the Rothmans Cup in 1997 after defeating Sundowns in the final. He also bagged the same cup with Chiefs in 1998, also after beating Sundowns in a controversial final.
Mr Rothmans Cup, as he is affectionately known by his South African fans, also secured the Iwisa Charity Spectacular cup in 1998. SportPurse and many Chiefs fans would argue that Dolezar was one of the best coaches in the country in the late 1990s.
Also Read: Teboho Mokoena dazzles as Mamelodi Sundowns become 2025/26 CAF Champions League champions
For a live score of any Mamelodi Sundowns or Kaizer Chiefs fixture and a detailed match timeline, including scorers, cards, and substitutions, visit our live scores page.
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