Shauwn Mkhize setting realistic goals for Royal AM
Royal AM’s flamboyant owner Shauwn Mkhize is a larger than life figure, but she doesn’t mind if the club fly under the radar in the top-flight.
After a controversial start to life in the top-flight which included legal battles and buyouts, Mkhize’s team have settled into life in the Premiership and sport a 50/50 record after four matches.
Shauwn Mkhize thanks Royal AM supporters
Mkhize is grateful for the support the club has received, particularly from their base in KwaZulu-Natal, and hopes to repay that faith.
“The support has been extremely good,” she said in a radio interview with Power 98.7 Sport. “People were so willing to see us starting to play our first game.
“As much as the first games were not good, people never lost faith in us. They said, ‘Keep on building, we know you are still building, and we are building.”
READ: Sundowns coach – We want a team that dominates
Mkhize revealed that Royal AM intend to provide opportunities for the marginalised in South African football.
“Actually it’s Andile’s dream to make sure that everybody that has never got an opportunity be seen and noticed,” she said.
“And he will be a root for the youth direction. Those are the people he wants to be giving a chance.”
Flying under the radar
Despite a stunning victory over Kaizer Chiefs last week, Royal AM do not have their sights set on chasing the Premiership title just yet.
“For us this season I don’t think we want to compete with the big guns — we just want to have stability,” she said.
“We have a three-year plan. Maybe next year [the 2022-23 season] we will start competing for top seven or eight. Then the next year [2023-24] we might be looking to compete, but we are in no rush.
“This year people mustn’t put pressure on us because we are not here to compete for the league. We are here to stabilise ourselves and that’s what we need to do.
Maritzburg United have a new hero, watch Soukouna’s dramatic winner
“We want to be stable and not be relegated,” she said. “We know at the beginning everyone was saying we are going to be relegated very quickly. That’s why we have got to fight and avoid being relegated.
“For me, I always say it’s not how you start, it’s how you end. Rome was not built in one day. Putting the best combination of players together is not an easy thing to do.”
READ: Is this man Orlando Pirates’ next head coach?
No comments: