AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin says his side must fight for a spot in the top half this season, but insisted the club must sign a striker who can give him goals.
Usuthu, expected to do better with the investment backed by president and visionary Sandile Zungu, had a season to forget in 2022/23, as they had three coaches and the impact of that was felt as they only finished 12th on the DStv Premiership table.
They started the campaign with Brandon Truter, who earned 10 points from four matches for Usuthu to match the start from the 1998/99 season, but things quickly collapsed and he was sacked in October.
Then came Romain Folz, but he too did not last long, and he was shifted aside in April and replaced by Ayanda Dlamini in the caretaker role.
But even the club’s former striker struggled, unlike during the bubble in the 2019/20 season, to get going and won only one game of six he was in charge.
As a consequence, Usuthu opted to part ways with Dlamini and appoint Martin on a three-year contract.
The former Simba SC coach has brought in a winning feeling in the side already, winning the KZN Premier’s Cup two weeks ago, beating Richards Bay on penalties in the final.
This past weekend, Martin took his side to another pre-season tournament in the North of KZN for Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup, where they beat Mbabane Swallows 2-1 in the semi-final but lost 1-0 to Royal AM in the final.
The Spanish coach aims for more of the same when the season starts, but has expressed his concerns about the capacity in the forward lines, with Gabadinho Mhango seemingly on his way out at the club.
“I want to place AmaZulu in the spotlight,” said Cijmpi.
“I think it is important to send a message to everyone that we still have a long way to go, we need to improve a lot.
“I hope we can sign some players to increase our quality because we are lacking in the last third.
“From there, at least we are saying it is not going to be the same as last season. AmaZulu cannot afford to be fighting for relegation, we need to be fighting for top [ha;f] position in the table, we need to try and make trouble for the top teams in this league and we need to dominate the rest of the teams in competition.
“We are building that and it is clear from everyone that we are ready in that aspect.”
Usuthu, unlike last season, experienced the dizzy heights in the 2020/21 season under Benni McCarthy, finishing second in the table, their highest ever position in the PSL. They will start this coming campaign against Royal AM at Harry Gwala Stadium on 5 August.
