‘You have to follow logic’: Sukazi confirms Parker will continue to coach Galaxy next season

TS Galaxy chair Tim Sukazi has confirmed Bernard Parker will coach the club next season.

Sukazi said it is logical and allows for continuity for the former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana striker to continue coaching the team into the future.

When things were haywire and the club flirted with relegation towards the end of last season, Sukazi fired former coach Adnan Beganovic and gave Parker the last six matches in all competitions.

In the league, Parker oversaw four draws with Magesi FC, Marumo Gallants, Chippa United and Golden Arrows and the famous win over Sundowns.

The result against the Brazilians denied Downs the opportunity to defend their Betway Premiership title, which went to Orlando Pirates.

Parker’s only loss came in the Nedbank Cup final, where Galaxy lost 2-1 to Durban City in Polokwane. Sukazi said he has done enough to take the team into the future.

“You have to follow reason and logic,” Sukazi told TimesLIVE.

“Here we are with a young South African coach, a football legend who has all the qualities and credentials and what it takes. He proved himself by pulling us out of the doldrums after we lost nine out of 10 league games.

“He coached the remaining five league matches where he didn’t lose and the acid test was the match against Mamelodi Sundowns. When we eliminated them [Sundowns] from the Nedbank Cup, there was talk about the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium field being small and that some of their players were not available.

“For our league match, I said let’s take it to Mbombela Stadium on a big field and they [Downs] must bring their big players such as Ronwen [Williams] and we won that match.

We need to develop him, and when pressure picks up we will have options to shield him, but this momentum has to be continued at TS Galaxy next season

—  Tim Sukazi, TS Galaxy chair

“It is not only a question of Parker having won. Iit took his football acumen to come up with a good strategy and he has shown some good signs. It is the question to pose to the country and say: ‘South Africa, does it not follow logic and make perfect sense for Parker to remain in the coaching position?’

“We need to develop him, and when pressure picks up we will have options to shield him, but this momentum has to be continued at TS Galaxy next season.”

Galaxy ended the Premiership season fourth from the bottom with 32 points from 30 matches, having won only eight games the entire campaign.

“We had a strange season, the one where you can’t find words to explain. We had a beautiful first round where we were lying up there in fourth position, but we had the complete opposite in the second half.

“I cannot explain it but that necessitated us to change the coach and soon thereafter we came back. When we beat Sundowns, people saw the best of TS Galaxy, the TS Galaxy that remains an alternative to every other supporter of the big clubs.

“We seem to be on the right path. Football is very strange and you will not find ways to explain how the second round panned out.”

TimesLIVE