Zimpapers Logo

Senior Sports Reporter

BULAWAYO Chiefs coach Nilton Terroso will be heading back to Europe with his family following expiry of his permit, with his assistants presiding over their remaining matches.

Terroso’s visa expired yesterday, a year after he arrived in the country to take charge of ambitious Chiefs.

However, the Portuguese gaffer whose contract with the club runs out on December 31 will not be totally divorced from everyday operations at Chiefs, as he will continue to provide training programmes and plans for the matches.

The Portuguese leaves Chiefs on position eight on the table with 42 points from 29 games having won 11 matches, played to nine draws and lost the same number of encounters. The number of points that Chiefs have accumulated with five league games left before the season ends is a point better than the 41 points that “The Ninjas” finished with at the end of the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Terroso also leaves Chiefs in the semi-finals of the Chibuku Super Cup, a first for the club.

Nilton Terroso

“I will advise on training content based on the principles of play that are identified as needed to be worked on. This all related to the previous game performance and strategy for the following game. I will be watching the match and training videos collected by the media department to assist in my ongoing analysis and assessment of the team,” said Terroso.

Sources at Amakhosi Amahle indicated that the club felt it is better to have the coach’s contract and permit running concurrently instead of the other overlapping.

“The reason why we’ve opted for this option is that when negotiations for a contract extension are successful after analysing the season, the new deal starts in January and the permit runs the full calendar year instead of overlapping,” said the source.

Nilton Terroso and Children 

Chiefs media officer, Thulani “Javas” Sibanda said there is nothing amiss with the arrangement.

“The coach has previously made a number of trips to Europe to attend his Uefa Pro-Licence classes and the previous arrangements will be stuck to. He will continue to provide the training programmes to the technical team and plan for upcoming games. There’s nothing amiss with the arrangement but it is purely what both parties agreed on. We saw the technical team following Terroso’s guidance and programmes when he was away and we trust that the same process will be followed,” said Sibanda.

While in Europe, Terroso will continue with his Uefa Pro-Licence course, attending final classes in November and March next year. He will also participate in two online sessions this month.

The Chiefs coach said he has planned visitations to European clubs which include Real Madrid and Liverpool, among others.

Last week, Terroso revealed that his Pro-Licence class had an online session with Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta.

Nilton Terroso – The Chiefs Coach 

“On Wednesday last week we had a two-hour presentation and discussion with Mikel Arteta from Arsenal talking about his pathway, transformation from being a player to coach. What he learnt moving from Manchester City to Arsenal, what he took from Pep Guardiola and what’s his philosophy.

“We will have another contact in November, another one in March and then the Pro-Licence will be complete. Between now and graduation, we’ve various course works and study visits. I’ll be going to Real Madrid in December because David Ancelloti, Carlo Ancelloti’s son, is with me in the course. I’ll also be going to Liverpool as well in December because a friend of mine, a Portuguese Victor Matos is one of the assistant coaches there. I’ll be visiting various other clubs in November, December and January,” Terroso said. — Follow on Twitter @ZililoR