Nkana Football Club on Monday night announced former Chipolopolo captain Elijah Tana as interim head coach following the placement of Mwenya Chipepo on administrative leave.
This will be Tana’s first major Super League role as a head coach. He has previously worked mainly as an assistant to Bruce Mwape at Nchanga Rangers in 2017; he also served as an assistant to Israel Mwanza at Kansanshi Dynamos and to Evans Sakala at Nchanga Rangers. His head coaching roles have largely been with lower-division sides.
Reacting to his appointment, his former boss, Bruce Mwape, told BolaNews that Tana has the required experience and mentality to manage the 13-time Zambian champions.
“I do not know the criteria they used to pick him, but what I know is that he is one of the coaches with some experience at the moment because he has been working as a coach for more than 10 years. So I don’t think he can fail; he has got all the experience that is required to actually coach the team,” Mwape said.
“He should concentrate and focus on the league; I know there are a lot of expectations from their supporters. So as far as I’m concerned, what he needs to do is just concentrate and focus on winning games.”
Tana takes over a Nkana side that has suffered three consecutive defeats in the league, dropping to 12th place with 25 points from 22 matches played so far.
Nkana will face Konkola Blades over the weekend in what will be Tana’s first game in charge.
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