Zeca to make his Marques at Swallows

Newly appointed coach Zeca Marques says he is "ready" to lead Moroka Swallows to success. File picture.

Newly appointed coach Zeca Marques says he is "ready" to lead Moroka Swallows to success. File picture.

Published Jul 3, 2012

Share

Zeca Marques says he is “ready” to lead Moroka Swallows to success in the coming season after he was elevated from assistant to head coach at the Dube Birds following Gordon Igesund’s appointment as Bafana Bafana coach over the weekend.

“I’m delighted, there’s no question about it. I’m happy that the club has given me the opportunity.

“I’m ready for the job. I’m looking forward to working with a group of players who have bought back the pride to this club and players who are very professional,” said Marques, who was assistant for three seasons at the club before his appointment yesterday.

Igesund worked wonders with Moroka Swallows last season, the club finishing second on the standings behind champions Orlando Pirates, arguably their best season since the inception of the PSL. Now all eyes will be on Marques to see if he can repeat the club’s heroics, or even go one better and win the championship.

Marques, who also worked with German Rainer Zobel and Brazilian Julio Leal before Igesund’s appointment in late 2010, is adamant he and the team can amass more points than they did last season.

“We want to get more points than what we did last season (56),” said Marques.

“Repeating what we did last season is going to be a big challenge, but I have no doubt that the players we have will help us in achieving our goals,” he said.

“It was a privilege working with Gordon. He was in a different class and I learned so much from him. He is a great person.”

The coach says he will not make too many changes to the team that Igesund had built.

“Look, at the moment we are just preparing for the new season. We want to keep a small squad,” he said. “If we do go out into the market, we will bring in one or two players. We don’t want to change too much,” he said.

Swallows captain Lefa Tsutsulupa has backed the club’s decision to appoint Marques as head coach, the hard-working midfielder saying that there will be “continuity” in the team.

“I think the most important thing is that there will be continuity. He has been here with us for a while now and I think he deserves the job.

“We here at Swallows have a bunch of players who respect coaches and you can be sure that we will respect him and work for him so that he can succeed. I think he will do well. He understands the players.”

Related Topics: