I Left Kaizer Chiefs On A Good Note - John Paintsil

Former Ghana international John Paintsil insists he left South African Premier League giants Kaiser Chiefs on a good note.

Paintsil who is now the head Coach of Ghanaian second-tier side Vision Explorers Soccer Academy said in an interview on Joy FM's Joy Sports Link, that he has moved on from the episode of leaving Kaiser Chiefs and wants to focus on improving his coaching career and becoming great but remains cordial with the management of the club.

The 37-year-old signed a contract as an assistant coach to Steve Kompela at Kaizer Chiefs. The contract was to run until June this year but was mutually terminated in January.

“I am able to pick the phone and call the club anytime. Whenever I have a player I want to introduce I am free to do so. I call the technical director and the boss himself because I left on a good note,” he said.

The former Fulham and West Ham defender said he observed how the media speculated greatly about the possible reason why he left. “As a celebrity, I understand that even if I decide to urinate in the bush it becomes news. I was not surprised at all but found some of the speculations very interesting. Many untruths were circulated about that story."

He told the show’s host, Nathaniel Attoh, that he has and will respect the agreements from the Kaizer Chiefs board room on the matter and will remain mute on the fine details.

According to Paintsil, he decided to play for a South African second-tier side, Santos, following his last Premier League stint due to strategic reasons. “Many asked why I opted for a second-tier side when I could have easily landed a deal with one of the big clubs but I knew exactly what I was doing. The next season I moved to Maritzburg United where I met Steve Kompela, the man who inspired my coaching career a great deal. I was glad playing under him,” he said.

The former Maccabi Tel Aviv player further revealed that after a conversation with Coach Steve Kompela, he was inspired to start some coaching courses and eventually decided to take up the assistant coaching role at Kaizer Chiefs when Kompela made the move there from Maritzburg United. “Kompela believed in me and gave me all the encouragement to work. I was also able to apply my experience and our work yielded a fourth-place finish in the 2016 season,” he recalled.

Paintsil is highly-respected back home in Ghana for his dedication to the senior national team where he earned 89 caps over a 12 year period. He is a recipient of the grand medal of the Republic of Ghana together with all his other teammates who made up the Black Stars team to Ghana’s first FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006.

In Ghana, he played for Berekum Arsenal and Liberty Professionals and gained external playing experience from Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel, West Ham, Leicester City and Fulham in the English Premier League and Santos and Maritzburg United in South Africa.

Painstil, 37, will officially launch his football club in Ghana in the next 21 days.