Zimbabwe Warriors and Liverpool legend Bruce Grobbelaar has disclosed that he was once shortlisted for the Kaizer Chiefs head coaching job and he would consider a return to South African football if he receives a good offer.
The 62-year-old retired goalkeeper, who recently made a surprise move to Norwegian second-tier side Øygarden FK as special advisor and goalkeepers’ coach also revealed that he is keen to return to South Africa having coached SuperSport United between 1999 and 2001.
“South Africa, I would love to come back there,” Grobbelaar told the African football podcast On The Whistle.
The charismatic former Zimbabwe international however cautioned that although he’s hungry to return to the South African PSL, most team owners didn’t have the “cajones” to appoint him as a coach.
He said his return to the PSL all “depends if these owners have got balls.”
“I’m talking about big cajones to get Bruce Grobbelaar back for their team.”
The South Africa-born Grobbelaar said that he’s been in touch with AmaZulu, Chippa United, and also revealed that he was being lined up for the Chiefs job before Ernst Middendorp was appointed in 2018.
“I’ve been in touch with Kaizer Motaung at the Kaizer Chiefs. But I couldn’t get that one because Bobby [Motaung] was the one that was picking the coaches. So, there’s a lot of teams that have been in touch,” the Uefa Champions League-winning goalkeeper said before indicating that there are PSL clubs interested in his services.
The former Zimbabwe international recently claimed that some people are not comfortable with his return to the PSL since his dismissal at SuperSport.
Grobbelaar alleged that he was framed by some people including his then-assistant coach Pitso Mosimane, who is now in charge of Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Durban-born legend also opened up signing a pre-contract with Sundowns where he was set to take over as the new head coach.
“This is something that South Africans don’t know. I was asked to take over Sundowns with the Tsichlas family and I signed a pre-contract agreement [in 2000],” he said.
Grobbelaar explained that the then-Sundowns club owners, the Tsichlas family, changed their mind and opted to give Dutch tactician Clemens Westerhof the job.
“And so, it was breaking the agreement that I had with them. I took them to court. And I got paid three years of a three-year contract without coaching the team once,” he concluded.
Grobbelaar is a household name in Zimbabwe and South African football circles.
He attained legendary status at Liverpool where he won six English Premiership titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and the 1983-84 Champions League (then European Cup).
The former Warriors player and coach was also a key member of the late German coach Reinhard Fabisch’s famous Dream Team of the 1990s, which came just a victory short of qualification for the 1994 World Cup.
Grobbelaar earned 32 caps for Zimbabwe between 1980 and 1998 and was twice briefly player-manager of the Warriors in 1997 and 1998.
Recently Grobbelaar worked for Canadian club Ottawa Fury FC as the goalkeeper coach between 2014 and 2018.
Last year he was also linked with the Zimbabwe Warriors coaching job.
