Venda Football Club’s new coach Clinton Larsen has vowed to turn the club from fighting relegation to challenge for promotion in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) next season.
Larsen was unveiled as Venda new coach on Tuesday, taking over from Stanford Nkoane, and revealed he was approached by few teams towards the end of last season, including AmaZulu, Cape Town Spurs and Baroka, but felt it was not the right time.
The coach has been unemployed since December after he parted ways with Magesi, where he led them to promotion to the Betway Premiership, and famously guided them to a Carling Knockout title last season.
“I had offers, I spoke to Baroka, Cape Town Spurs, AmaZulu and quite a number of teams but negotiations broke down. So, I decided I would rather wait. It’s not like I was sitting at home without any offers,” Larsen told Sowetan yesterday.
“I felt the time was right now. I did promise myself that I don’t want to go and take teams that are five or seven games to go in the league, I made that mistake before. So, I tried to resist the temptation to go back into such a scenario, and I managed to do that.
“But when I got the call from Venda, it’s not very often where a coach is allowed officially in the NFD and Premiership the opportunity to bring his technical team, which I’m allowed to do. I think there are two clubs locally that allow you to come with your entire technical team. I’m allowed to do that (at Venda) and also build the team.
“The management has supported me in terms of recruitment and some of the players I have put forward to try and sign. So, these are the things that stood out for me and, on top of it, I’m also going to direct the academy, and that’s something which is close to my heart.”
Venda endured a challenging 2024/25 season, finishing in 14th place and the 54-year-old coach is optimistic he will turn it around in the new campaign. “I have said it before I’m not obsessed with coaching in the Premiership, for me I’m happy when the project is right for me,” he said.
“My gut tells me to take this challenge on Venda. They have been flirting with relegation for the past three seasons, so it’s a big challenge for me to turn things around at the club.”
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