Chippa United Head Coach Dan Malesela says that their game against his former team TS Galaxy this weekend is not a ‘grudge match’.
Malesela, who was sacked by Galaxy at the end of 2020, re-joined Chippa for a fourth stint, but is still looking for a first win, having drawn one and lost one so far.
Galaxy have just appointed Owen Da Gama, and this will be his first match in charge.
Malesela says the team can’t be distracted by side issues, and their main focus is getting maximum points and building some momentum.
Galaxy are currently 14th on 8 points, while Chippa are 15th, two points further behind.
“Ja, quite a particular game, because, one is obviously that I was coach in TS Galaxy for a while, and there’s a lot of expectations from people, people, who are for me, and want me to win against TS Galaxy,” Malesela told the club’s media officer.
“And of course there are those people that different and want the opposite.”
“I’ve always said it’s not about me, it’s about what the team must achieve. It’s a difficult game as it is, we all find ourselves at the wrong end of the log table, one above the other, or one below the other, and there is pressure on both teams to win, to get maximum points.”
“But if we allow the pressure to overcome us, we may not do the right things in the match. We want to see if we can do the right things to win the match, and also saving ourselves for the next match against Swallows on the Wednesday.”
“You know, I people will have other issues like, ‘Dan has to do this’, ‘Dan has to do that’ against Galaxy, but I’m not up for that. I’m more mature now. For me to start holding grudges, and thinking other things, whatever, I focus on what is at hand at the moment, and forget about history. Life must go on. Now I’m focussing on Chippa United and see if the Chilli Boyz can succeed in this match.”
