Golden Arrows head coach Mandla Ncikazi did not confirm nor deny that there was a breakdown in his relationship with former colleague and head coach at former side Orlando Pirates Abdeslam Ouaddou.
Ncikazi parted ways with the 2025/26 season treble winners last month with speculation about tensions between him and Ouaddou reported to have been among the reasons for his departure at Pirates.
Ouaddou himself has also poured cold water on the speculations saying people wanted to create controversy where there wasn’t any.
Meanwhile Ncikazi has overseen three matches since returning to Arrows one league game, a defeat to AmaZulu in the league and the two Carling Knockout Cup encounters, the victory over Chippa United in the opening round and the elimination by Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarter-final in Tshwane on Tuesday.
After the game he was asked to clarify his relationship with Ouaddou and he answered vaguely saying every institution has its own challenges and even if there were issues between him and the Moroccan he was never going to tell publicly.
“Guys for the future as a principle, and as a man of my age, you don’t talk ill about your former employer because you offend them,” said Ncikazi.
“Equally the same when I start talking about my former employer, I’m offending my current employer. Every house has got a toilet. As a man, you don’t have a responsibility of telling every family that there’s challenges on your family.”
“Me I’m just a man. Even if there was a problem, you are not going to know, because I’m a man. I’ve got a responsibility to protect the environment that I work for, irrespective of the environment.”
“In every club that I’ve worked for, there are issues, but I don’t have a responsibility to publicly tell. As a coach, you are a CEO of the company, so protect the environment.”
“I’ve got no comment. I’ve got no issue to answer. Just in future, that I don’t answer such questions because I respect the environments.”