AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has opened up on his exit from previous club Cape Town City, claiming that 'snakes' destroyed the harmony in the camp.
McCarthy's star has been on the rise since he became the man to lead new AmaZulu owner Sandile Zungu's revolution at the Durban club and Usuthu have out-punched several of South African football's big guns this season to occupy second spot on the league standings.
The former Champions League winner had previously enjoyed success with his hometown club Cape Town City, winning the MTN8 and doing well in the league.
However, things seemingly turned sour in the months leading up to McCarthy's exit, and he has now elaborated on what went wrong from his point of view.
"There was trust, there was honesty, there was belief in each other, and everyone just worked towards their goals, improving themselves, improving the players, improving the group that we have, and that's how we worked," McCarthy said in an interview with iDiskiTimes.
"And then, you know, we started getting a little bit successful, and things were going good. And now, the stronger the bond became, the more problematic it also became for people within the club structure.
"And then we got rid of one snake, and then we brought in another cobra!"
McCarthy spoke of how the 'team spirit, harmony, and togetherness and unity' which he had helped to install was etched away, and also of unnamed individuals in the club bringing personal agendas:
"I wasn't there for credit, you know, and now you get certain people coming into the team, and then they wanted to make it about the individuals and people having their own agendas," he said.
"And slowly it started to chip away on the values of the team unity, the team spirit, and the togetherness, and the trust and the honesty; because now people are doing behind the scenes, they doing their own things, speaking to players individually, what they think players should do instead of what the overall coaching structure was.
"When we talk to the players, we all talk the same language, we all go in the same direction. But no, people wanted to be the protagonist. 'No, no, no, no, I would do this' and 'I would do that' and 'I think this would serve you good'. And then it's more I, I, I, where with me it's about us, we, we, we and that was the problem."